Society: We live together

History

Popper saw the classical Greeks as initiating the long slow transition from tribalism towards the open society, and as facing for the first time the strain imposed by the less personal group relations entailed thereby.

Whereas tribalistic and collectivist societies do not distinguish between natural laws and social customs, so that individuals are unlikely to challenge traditions they believe to have a sacred or magical basis, the beginnings of an open society are marked by a distinction between natural and man-made law, and an increase in personal responsibility and accountability for moral choices (not incompatible with religious belief).

Popper argued that the ideas of individuality, criticism, and humanitarianism cannot be suppressed once people have become aware of them, and therefore that it is impossible to return to the closed society, but at the same time recognized the continuing emotional pull of what he called the lost group spirit of tribalism, as manifested for example in the totalitarianisms of the 20th century.

While the period since Popper's study has undoubtedly been marked by the spread of the open society, this may be attributed less to Popper's advocacy and more to the role of the economic advances of late modernity. Growth-based industrial societies require literacy, anonymity and social mobility from their members — elements incompatible with much traditional-based behavior but demanding the ever-wider spread of the abstract social relations Georg Simmel saw as characterizing the metropolitan mental stance.

Definition

Popper defined the open society as one in which individuals are confronted with personal decisions as opposed to a magical or tribal or collectivist society.

He considered that only democracy provides an institutional mechanism for reform and leadership change without the need for bloodshed, revolution or coup d'état.

Modern advocates of the open society suggest that society would keep no secrets from itself in the public sense, as all are trusted with the knowledge of all. Political freedoms and human rights are claimed to be the foundation of an open society

Critical knowledge

Popper's concept of the open society is epistemological rather than political. When Popper wrote >The Open Society and its Enemies, he believed that the social sciences had failed to grasp the significance and the nature of fascism and communism because these sciences were based on what he saw to be faulty epistemology. Totalitarianism forced knowledge to become political which made critical thinking impossible and led to the destruction of knowledge in totalitarian countries.

Popper's theory that knowledge is provisional and fallible implies that society must be open to alternative points of view. An open society is associated with cultural and religious pluralism; it is always open to improvement because knowledge is never completed but always ongoing: if we wish to remain human, then there is only one way, the way into the open society... into the unknown, the uncertain and insecure.

In the closed society, claims to certain knowledge and ultimate truth lead to the attempted imposition of one version of reality. Such a society is closed to freedom of thought. In contrast, in an open society each citizen needs to engage in critical thinking, which requires freedom of thought and expression and the cultural and legal institutions that can facilitate this.

Further characteristics

Humanitarianism, equality and political freedom are ideally fundamental characteristics of an open society. This was recognized by Pericles, a statesman of the Athenian democracy, in his laudatory funeral oration: advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.

Arguably however it was the tension between a traditional society and the new, more open space of the emerging polis which most fully marked classical Athens, and Popper was very aware of the continuing emotional appeal of what he called holism...longing for the lost unity of tribal life into the modern world.

Criticism

Investor and philanthropist George Soros, a self-described follower of Karl Popper, has argued that sophisticated use of powerful techniques of subtle deception borrowed from modern advertising and cognitive science by conservative political operatives such as Frank Luntz and Karl Rove casts doubt on Popper's original conception of open society. Because the electorate's perception of reality can easily be manipulated, democratic political discourse does not necessarily lead to a better understanding of reality. Soros argues that besides the requirements for the separation of powers, free speech, and free elections, we also need to make explicit a strong commitment to the pursuit of truth. Politicians will respect, rather than manipulate, reality only if the public cares about the truth and punishes politicians when it catches them in deliberate deception.

Popper however did not identify the open society either with democracy or with capitalism or a laissez-faire economy, but rather with a critical frame of mind on the part of the individual, in the face of communal group think of whatever kind. An important aspect in Popper's thinking is the notion that the truth can be lost. Critical attitude does not mean that the truth is found.

Commoditazation

Commoditization refers to the process of making something into a commodity. A commodity is a fundamental good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type.

Commoditization removes the individual, unique characteristics and brand identity so that the product becomes interchangeable with other products of the same type. Making commodities interchangeable allows competition with a basis of price only and not on different characteristics.

When a financial contract such as a mortgage becomes commoditized, the contract becomes liquid because it can be bought and sold readily. This liquidity promotes trading in that market because the agreements do not have to be assessed individually and treated uniquely.

Eight Critical Factors Behind Every Food Crisis

From the beginning of time, there have been food crises in one form or another. Ancient books such as the Bible have records of various famines devastating portions of the world. And while it's easy to attribute these crises to a single cause, such as war or drought, the causes are usually much deeper and much more complex.

Nelson Mandela said, Overcoming poverty is not an act of charity, it is an act of justice. In order for us to achieve the kind of justice envisioned by Mandela, it's essential that we first understand the underlying causes of food crises. Only after we have understood can we then begin creating meaningful solutions.

With that in mind, here are 8 primary factors behind almost every global food crisis. While not all 8 of these will be present at a time, you will almost always find several of these at work. Most food crises aren't the result of a single factor. Rather, they are caused by a perfect storm of events that coalesce into a deadly storm.

Poverty

One of the greatest factors in every food crisis is stark and abject poverty. This isn't surprising. With enough money, anyone can ensure they have enough food. But with many developing nations sitting well below the poverty line, the population simply can't afford the food they so desperately need.

Additionally, poverty has a distinct effect on food output. In Africa, for example, many farmers can't afford proper irrigation and fertilizer. This, in turn, leads to lower yields, which then reduces the overall amount of food available to the population.

The population of the Sub-Saharan region of Africa is expected to grow at an astronomical rate, topping out at 2.4 billion by 2050. This will continue to exacerbate the poverty issue, which will then continue to drive the lack of sufficient food in the area.

Drought and Desertification

Widespread droughts, leading to the desertification of particular locations also causes huge disruptions to food production. For example, leading up to and during the global food crisis of 2008, 110 countries experienced significant droughts. This caused even the most well-irrigated, fertile areas to become arid deserts, making it impossible to grow crops.

As Mark Hughes noted:

Australia is normally the second largest exporter of grain, after the U.S. The continent, though, is experiencing an ongoing drought that has been described as the worst in a century. Grain yields have shrunk and many silos remain empty. Australia's drought is a major factor in global wheat stocks being at their lowest since 1979. In fact, many wheat and rice farmers are switching to crops that demand less water, such as wine grapes.

Additionally, farmers often let animals over-graze on their land, reducing the amount of vegetation and increasing desertification. If the soil becomes dry enough, it is ruined and unable to support any crops at all.

Finally, as populations grow, deforestation occurs at an increased rate, which then leads to less vegetation and more desertification.

Political Pressure

In the past, the International Monetary Fund has pressured small farmers, particularly in impoverished African countries, to abandon agricultural farming in favor of industrial work. The money generated from this practice would be used to pay off debt and import food.

While it may sound like a working strategy, it has created catastrophic results.

As Eric Holt-Giménez noted:

The urban population increased seven-fold, swelling from 18% to 33% of the population. Millions of poor and unemployed workers have swelled the cities—with two-thirds of them living in slums. The manufacturing and industrial sector did not take off in African countries; the percent of the GDP coming from industry was 30% in 1961 and 32% in 2000. In the countryside, as plantations for agro-exports expanded, food production plummeted and poverty grew. Though the rural population, density increased by 180% as more farmers were crowded onto smaller plots.

Increased Consumption of Meat and Dairy

Many countries have begun adopting a more Western diet, which includes eating significantly more meat and dairy. To make this happen, farmers have been forced to raise more cattle, and more cattle means more grain being consumed.

The problem, however, is that this causes a significant deficiency in terms of calories consumed versus calories available. A cow consumes approximately 700 calories worth of grain to produce a piece of meat containing only 100 calories. When this happens on a massive scale, an enormous shortage of food is the end result. The longer this deficit continues, the greater the imbalance will become.

Increased Oil and Transportation Costs

When the price of oil goes up, the energy cost for planting and transporting foods goes through the roof. When food costs more to grow, it then costs more to sell. These rising costs then make it more difficult for the local population to purchase crops as well as for farmers to export their crops to industrialized nations.

Additionally, increased oil costs has led many countries to invest heavily in the development of agro-fuels. More agro-fuels always means less food available.

As Esther Vivas helpfully puts it:

The increase in the price of oil, which doubled in 2007 and 2008 and caused a big rise in the price of fertilizers and transport related to the food system, has resulted in increasing investment in the production of alternative fuels such as those of plant origin. Governments in the United States, the European Union, Brazil and others have subsidized production of agro-fuels in response to the scarcity of oil and global warming. But this green fuel production comes into direct competition with the production of food. To give just one example, in 2007 in the United States 20% of the total cereal harvest was used to produce ethanol and it is calculated in the next decade that this figure will reach 33%. We can imagine the situation in the countries of the South.

Falling (or Failing) World Aid

At the peak of the 2007-2008 food crisis, food aid was at it's lowest point since 1961. This is one of the oddities about the national food market. When cereal prices are low, countries look to sell their food through international aid. However, when food prices are high, they prefer to sell them on the open market for increased profits.

In other words, during food crises, when food is scarcest and at it's highest prices, it isn't available for international aid. When the bottom falls out of world aid, food crises grow in magnitude.

International Conflicts

International conflicts are a particularly visible factor behind many food crises. During conflicts, it's common for one country to restrict exports to another country, which then reduces the amount of food available to the general population.

Or, even worse, dictators will intentionally isolate their countries, refusing foreign aid that is desperately needed. Aid workers may be blocked from entering the country, making it difficult for the citizens to receive needed help. If foreign aid does come, they seize it for themselves, depriving the population of desperately needed sustenance.

Disease

If a country experiences a particularly violent outbreak of a disease, it can completely disrupt the overall food supply. For example, the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa has killed farmers, which in turn pushes families deep into poverty.

When a population is undernourished, drugs become less effective and can at times create intense hunger pains. These two factors combined create a vicious cycle of death, poverty, and hunger.

Additionally, certain highly contagious diseases can restrict the amount of aid available to a country. For example, during the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, aid workers were restricted from traveling to the region due to fear of spreading the disease.

Perfect Storms and Join Solutions

Most food crises aren't the result of a single factor. Rather, they are caused by a perfect storm of events that coalesce into a deadly storm.

For example, in 2011, Somalia was devastated by a drought that caused widespread crop failure. The food crisis was made even worse by a non-functioning government as well as a national conflict. All these forces combined to make it difficult for aid workers to reach those who so desperately needed help.

The result was that approximately 260,000 people died.

Because the problems are almost always complex and multi-layered, the solutions must be equally multi-faceted. Simple solutions typically exacerbate the problem at the expense of the local population.

The best solutions are those that involve numerous parties working together to create a tangible, workable solution.

There will always be food crises to one degree or another. But as we grow in our understanding of what causes them, we can also grow in our ability to bring them to an end.

Development Aid

Development aid is given by governments through individual countries' international aid agencies and through multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, and by individuals through development charities. For donor nations, development aid also has strategic value; improved living conditions can positively effects global security and economic growth. Official Development Assistance (ODA) is a commonly used measure of developmental aid.

Take up the White Man's burden—
    Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
    To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness
    On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
    Half devil and half child.

Take up the White Man's burden—
    In patience to abide,
To evil the threat of terror
    And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
    An hundred times made plain.
To seek another's profit,
    And work another's gain.

Take up the White Man's burden—
    The savage wars of peace—
Fill full the mouth of Famine
    And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
    The end for others sought,
Watch Sloth and heathen Folly
    Bring all your hopes to nought.

Take up the White Man's burden—
    No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper—
    The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
    The roads ye shall not tread,
Go make them with your living,
    And mark them with your dead!

Take up the White Man's burden—
    And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
    The hate of those ye guard—
The cry of hosts ye humour
    (Ah, slowly!) toward the light:—
"Why brought ye us from bondage,
    Our loved Egyptian night?"

Take up the White Man's burden—
    Ye dare not stoop to less—
Nor call too loud on Freedom
    To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
    By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
    Shall weigh your Gods and you.

Take up the White Man's burden—
    Have done with childish days—
The lightly profferred laurel,
    The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
    Through all the thankless years,
Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,
    The judgment of your peers!

What is culture?

Culture is often called the DNA of civilisation because culture is what carries forward patterns of behaviour from one generation to the next. But there are some paradoxes. Culture is often (usually) invisible to those contained within it. We often find the behaviour of other cultures incomprehensible without realising that they may have exactly the same feelings about the way we behave.

The cultures that we live and work in today have been selected by evolutionary pressures. They are in reality the true human life forms on Earth. In this sense an extra-terrestrial visitor would see only a few life forms on Earth – the Christians, the Consumers, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus - for example. As individuals we depend on being part of one of these cultures for our survival. The long term survival of corporations is equally affected by the viability and relevance of their internal cultures.

Given this dynamic there is no doubt that nature and evolution will eventually select a culture that can co-exist with a sustainable Earth. (Corporations in their current profit seeking form will probably not be a part of such a culture.) Unfortunately natural selection (survival of the fittest) is not a comfortable process – as the dinosaurs discovered. There is some re-assurance in this – Earth herself will transcend everything we do to her! But as a grandparent with 10 grandchildren I still hope to make some contribution which will make the adjustment less painful and the future more pleasurable.

The Significance of Culture

All human organisations involving large numbers of people depend on culture to work effectively – this applies to the nuclear family at one end of the scale to the huge global corporation or nation state at the other. Culture is built from value systems (fuzzy), memes (ideas and behaviours) and institutions (more or less complex structures of rules which persist from generation to generation). If you are interested in changing the way people (in the mass) behave then you have to change their culture – there is no other effective way. Many different academic specialities have been created to study different aspects of culture – law, history, anthropology, psychology, sociology and economics to name a few. Rather surprisingly there is (as yet) no speciality of cultural engineering. Despite this, we see governments, protestors, security services, advertising agencies, revolutionaries, corporate leaders and religious fanatics trying every trick to change cultures in ways that suit their cause. Some tricks are better than others as we shall discover!

Institutional Constraints: Ridiculous Examples

Here are some simple examples which show how humans behave in seemingly ridiculous ways because it is so difficult for us to escape from institutional constraints.

• The querty typewriter keyboard was invented with the major objective of making it as difficult as possible to type quickly. This was necessary to avoid jamming the mechanically operated keys. Despite all the advances in word processing, computer power and every brilliant attempt at a faster keyboard, we are still using querty!
• English spelling! There is no consistency whatever in english spelling – for example the sound 'a' can be spelled in 11 different ways! Spelling is an institution which has evolved over hundreds of years – logic has not been involved!
• The long trousers, ties and suits which are worn by men are very strange and impractical clothing. Jackets are cut in a shape that allows easy riding of a horse. Trousers became popular after the french revolution in 1789 when they were used to indicate solidarity with the working class and dislike of the aristocracy (who wore breeches). The clothes people wear are still an important part of corporate culture. We do behave differently depending on the clothes we are wearing. For some reason the corporate world has always expected the really bright IT people to dress in an unconventional way!
• Money incentives are the conventional way of encouraging desired behaviours despite the fact that there is a mountain of evidence showing that such incentives can seriously reduce creative thinking. The candle experiment and Dan Pink's TED talk for example.

• Major Scientific discoveries. These are almost invariably made by people who have been educated and working in a different subject area from that in which they make the discovery. Those who are brought up in a particular discipline/culture simply cannot see outside the box.

  • AT'T could not see that digital package switching would take over from analogue signals
  • Plate tectonics was not discovered by geologists
  • Einstein came at physics from a completely different angle – he took Maxwell's equations and their consequences as being true then examined the new reality they represented.
  • IBM did not see that software would be a highly profitable industry
  • Edison could not see that alternating current would be better than direct

So what makes Culture and what are institutions?

Institutions, values and memes are specific patterns of behaviour and ideas which have been selected by historical evolution and together comprise a culture. Through human upbringing, education and peer group pressure these patterns can persist (like DNA) from generation to generation even though they may no longer be fit for purpose.

Values

Cultural values have been analysed across 6 dimensions in the work of Geert Hofstede (of IBM) who was primarily interested in international comparisons. These dimensions are:

Individualism-collectivism
Uncertainty avoidance
Power distance
Masculinity-femininity
Long term orientation
Indulgence versus self-restraint

Memes

Memes are relatively simple ideas or behaviours which are carried out by individuals and passed on through time by upbringing, education and peer group contagion. The concept was developed by Dawkins in 1976. He saw memes as the cultural equivalent of genes.

In the modern digital world of the internet, memes have become a new way to spread cultural messages. Pictures/icons and words spread rapidly in a peer to peer chain reaction – particularly with mobile phones. This has been a spontaneous invention of the crowd and we don't yet know what power or function it may ultimately give rise to. The website Reddit will keep you up to date with trends. The new power of the crowd is still evolving in peer to peer communication and wiki type phenomena.

Institutions

Institutions are more complex sets of rules and behaviours which are required for the viable operation of communities – they may be implicit (often invisible) or explicit (depending on codified rules and laws). My focus in this talk is on the way in which institutions create subtle but powerful constraints on how human organisations behave. Such constraints can only be removed by cultural engineering and this is a discipline which has been little studied or understood. (Hence the collapse of all previous civilisations and many apparently successful corporations.)

Seven Major Institutions preventing sustainability

Let's look at 7 major institutions which dominate our present global culture and prevent sustainability:

The concept of I

Many of the ways we think and behave are contained in the institution of language. (Language being the system of rules and understanding ascribed to words made from small physical marks on paper.) The western world places a huge emphasis on individuality and this concept is contained in the word I. While it is legitimate for an individual to have feelings as in I am happy, it is misleading and completely incorrect to say I can do what I like. In practice I cannot do anything without the support of my community (who grow my food, make my clothes, protect my safety etc.) or the existence of an Earth life support system which provides clean air, water and soil.

Answer - In the culture which is to come I believe everyone will carry with them a natural companion (a small plant, animal or tree) as a continual reminder that the natural world is just as much an integral part of our living being as our fingernails or teeth. It is the Earth and not we who are alive.

There are some who believe we should not use the word I except in its proper context – otherwise we should say the me part of us or the me part of Earth!

Romanised Christianity

Moses was the first man to see the power of having a single God outside the Earth. Before this pagan gods had been strongly attached to animals and places – humans could not just use them as they pleased. And like other cult leaders since, Moses was the only one who had a direct line to God. Later on Jesus Christ took up these concepts, made wise speeches, practised civil disobedience, made miracles and finally became a martyr.

Jesus Christ was in effect a very gifted cultural engineer. The Romans could do nothing to stop his ideas – indeed they added to their power by creating more martyrs. On the principle that if you can't beat them, join them, the Romans finally adopted Jesus Christ's religion. But, in doing so, they made several very important changes - original sin and the fear of hell, Earth and animals put here for our use, strong hierarchies of authority (Pope) and conformity, no females allowed into hierarchy (Eve and evil). Roman christianity became the glue which kept the Roman empire together – and indirectly led to the life threatening exploitation of Earth and strongly centralised leadership structures which we still see everywhere around us today.

Answer – New spirituality based on magic of life versus entropy (modern physics) – God/the life force immanent in everything, dispersed weak hierarchies of authority (local autonomy and diversity). The old celtic christianity offers a useful model.

So-called democratic government

Democratically elected populist governments began with the English parliament which was effectively elected by a club of the very rich after the king was beheaded in the seventeenth century. At the outset of democracy people needed to own at least 2000 acres to vote.

Today with universal suffrage the system simply gives power to those that most want it despite the fact that these people need have no training or experience which qualifies them to govern. The situation is further compounded by the fact that those who vote have little understanding of the complex policy issues involved in modern government. Even more bizarre is the fact that voters cannot vote for none of the above. And anyway the idea that good decisions can be made on the basis of a 4 or 5 year turnaround is plainly stupid.

Answer - Civilisations like the Incas and the Chinese (and to some extent the French) only give power to those with sufficient training, education and experience to use it wisely. One could imagine an enlightened world where a citizenship test is required to obtain the franchise. Or we could revert to the Greek method of choosing leaders by random choice (by lot) and then requiring them to answer to the demos with ostracism as a punitive sanction for bad performance!

Debt based fiat currency

Debt based fiat currency was invented with the creation of the Bank of England in 1694. This was a brilliant institutional invention which allowed the English to build the biggest navy in the world without having to raise taxes excessively. No longer was currency limited to gold and silver but workers could be paid with pieces of paper (promises!). The new Bank could create money which government and businesses needed out of thin air.

The entire world economy is now driven by the need to pay interest on all this debt based money (51 trillion $ and rising at $100,000 per second). However much faster we work and mine, paying this interest is going to get more and more difficult on a finite planet. Price inflation is inevitable as more money has to be constantly created to pay the interest. Debt based money and sustainability are not compatible.

Answer – Promote and adopt the use of non-debt based digital currencies like bitcoin and litecoin. These are analagous to a more user friendly version of currency backed by gold. Integrity of the currency is protected not by banks but by large peer to peer networks. No interest is payable and the currencies are deflationary which discourages profligate spending and encourages saving. A vibrant non-pecuniary economy would be a necessary feature of a world using digital currencies.

Such digital currencies would eliminate the banking sector in its current form. It would greatly reduce the power of the nation state – to collect taxes and influence the economy. It would require corporations to raise finance directly from the public rather than use the undemocratic financial power of loans raised with banks.

Economics and the free market

Ever since Adam Smith wrote about the invisible hand of the market the commercial world has been wedded to the ideal of the free market. The strong, ruthless and lucky get rich – and that is OK (we say) because they actually help the poor by driving economic growth onward and upward.

In the modern world of globalisation the dominant ethos is western consumerism. This is effectively underpinned by the romanised version of christianity. Success is measured primarily by money. Goods and resources are distributed almost exclusively by the price mechanism. Our relationship to the Earth (its plants and animals) is based on the precept that these goodies have been put there for our use. God is somewhere out there keeping an eye on things (if he/she exists at all). Humans expect to use the Earth as if it were some giant machine. If business were governed by the ethos of buddhism, celtic christianity or hinduism then things might be very different.

Answer - The shortcomings of the price mechanism on a finite world where life depends on huge uncontrolled commons (air and water) are well known. Price does not give effective signals to use resources wisely. Professor Manuel Castells has published a book (The Aftermath) describing his research into just how quickly and effectively the people in Spain have created almost 100 new non-economic ways of doing business. Before the advent of the money economy in the 17th century virtually all exchange was carried out without money – based on the power of social obligation, community responsibility and family duty. When inflationary debt based money is abolished in favour of deflationary digital currency the velocity of circulation will be greatly reduced. This will be a powerful incentive encouraging non-economic trading and own work.

We can already see a spectrum of human organisations in which success and status are measured/valued in very different ways. At the smallest scale (in the family or group of friends) status is not measured by how much money people have. It is measured by how much they contribute physically, spiritually and emotionally to the group – how friendly, loving and supportive other find them. The most successful will have a wide and numerous web of support from the other members of their community. And it is a natural part of the human condition to want to be in emotional credit with other members of the community. In the countryside it is always a big plus if you are able to help a neighbour in distress – this builds up your social and emotional credit so you know you too will receive all the help you need when things go wrong.

Corporations treated as immortal individuals with limited liability

The modern corporation combined with the invention of debt based money (Banking) to create the Industrial Revolution which is the basis for the globalised world economy we live in today. The corporation as a legal entity is immortal (lives for ever) and has tax advantages which enable it to accumulate huge wealth and power. It has limited liability which means it can take risks which might bankrupt an individual. It must generate profit for its owners and this tends to encourage expansion. It can operate in many different nations often playing one off against another, and has sufficient resources to lobby and influence governments.

These characteristics create dangers for the sovereignty of nation states and the unsustainable exploitation/pollution/destruction of natural resources.

Answer – Follow the pattern set in the early history of the United States whose settlers were determined to limit the influence of large corporations (particularly English ones!) through measures such as:

Corporate charters (licenses to exist) were granted for a limited time
Corporations could engage only in activities necessary to fulfill their chartered purpose.
Corporations could not own stock in other corporations
Corporations were often terminated if they caused public harm.
Owners and managers were responsible for criminal acts committed on the job.
Corporations could not make any political or charitable contributions nor spend money to influence law-making.

Consumerism

Consumerism is the addictive process through which people buy more and more stuff in the hope of making themselves happy even though they know that this is ultimately unsustainable and life threatening. Consumerism is driven by human greed whose effects are hugely magnified by advertising and peer group pressure. Consumerism creates affluenza which has been defined as:

a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more

Answer – Develop a new institution in the form of consumers anonymous to be inspired by the internet networking game of Metanoia....... Peer groups work together to support each other in practical ways of rediscovering the many non-material pleasures in life.

Zeitgeist

The life threatening consequences of some of these institutions have been well described by the extremely articulate young american percussionist Peter Joseph in his Zeitgeist videos. (Watched on Youtube by more than 20 million people.) Unfortunately PJ does not offer any simple workable solutions – other than something he calls resource based economics which seems to be something like a good housekeeping guide for planet Earth. In fact the solution (and sustainability!) can only be achieved by cultural engineering.

Participatory Culture

Alternative media have frequently been studied as a manifestation of participatory culture, in which citizens do not act as consumers only, but as contributors or producers as well. By opening up access to media production, participatory culture is believed to further democracy, civic engagement, and creative expression.

Participatory culture pre-dates the Internet. Amateur Press Associations are a form of participatory culture which emerged late in the 19th century. Members of such associations typeset and print their own publications, which are mailed through a network of subscribers. Zines, talk radio shows, and group projects also preceded blogs, podcasts, wikis, and social networks. With web services such as Wikipedia, Tumblr, Imgur, Reddit, Vine, and YouTube, all of which allow users to distribute original content, making media production more participatory.

Alternative media are also created by participatory journalism as citizens play an active role in collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information. This form of alternative and activist news-gathering and reporting functions outside of mainstream media institutions, often as a response to the shortcomings of professional journalism. It engages in journalistic practices but is driven by goals other than profit making, has different ideals, and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy.

Participatory media approaches consider participation in producing media content as well as in making decisions about media production processes as a defining feature of alternative media. Participatory culture can be realized in a number of ways. Media literacy is a way to begin participating by understanding media systems' conventions and means of production. Individuals learning to produce media themselves is the step that moves citizens from literacy to participation. Fan fiction, community radio or low-power FM, home videos, are but just a few ways that citizens can produce media content to participate in culture and to produce alternative media.

By fostering participation, alternative media contribute to the strengthening of a civic attitude and allow citizens to be active in one of the main spheres relevant to daily life and to put their right to communication into practice. To demonstrate the relationship between democracy and participation in media production, the term citizen's media illustrates that alternative media can help those who are producing media also become active citizens – particularly in a democracy. This idea is tied very closely to community media.

Community Media

Community media includes citizens' media, participatory media, activist and radical media and the broader forms of communication that local or regional specific platforms engage in. Like other forms of alternative media, community media seeks to bypass the commercialization of media. The elimination or avoidance of sole ownership or sponsorship is motivated by a desire to be free of oversight or obligation to cater to a specific agenda. Community media is often categorized as grassroots, a description that applies to both the financial structure and the process of content creation. While there is diversity in community media, which varies by media platform (radio, TV, web or print), it is typical that the media source is open to the public/community to submit material and content. This open policy aligns with the values of community media to maintain a democratic approach and ethos. Historically community media has served to provide an alternative political voice. Across the world forms of community, media are used to elevate the needs and discourse of a specific space, typically connected by geographical, cultural, social, or economic similarities.

The Corporate Dimension

If we look at the health of a corporation in terms of its institutions rather than its physical balance sheet or intellectual property we would be need to make an inventory of non-economic cultural characteristics. This is a challenge which should be undertaken by every large organisation that wishes to be sustainable.

Some possible cultural dimensions within corporations:

Court jester
Whistle blowing
Unofficial friendship circles
Peer group status
Dress rules – dress related symbols of success
Out of work social contacts
Number of clubs and work societies
Community activities performed voluntarily by staff
Birthday and special occasions at work
Social contact between work hierarchies
Contact between work wives
non-monetary rewards/signals of success
Type of internal newsletter – How is their content built up
Gap in the pay between the top and bottom of a company

We know that the Conscious Business movement has been making moves in this direction but the extent of knowledge and experience is still very limited.

One institution which was important in the long history of monarchy was the court jester. We have lost this important institution today within the corporate and conventional business world. The court jester was the only person licensed to tell the king the truth without being executed. In many governments and corporations this role is badly needed as leaders gradually surround themselves with yes men. Strangely the Management Consultancy world has not yet rediscovered the institution of the Court Jester!

Some Reflections

Can corporations create protocols that will allow the wisdom of the crowd to express itself in some kind of wiki process?

Will governments and corporations of the future have specific functionality built in to foster and encourage the wisdom of the crowd?

How far have we gone to understand the most relevant cultural dimensions (institutions, values and memes) that should be identified in a cultural inventory of any human organisation?

Should we have cultural engineering departments within government and corporations?

What tools of cultural engineering do we have that can be used to change cultural institutions and memes to avoid the pain of evolutionary natural selection (which can, literally, cost the earth or the viability of a corporation)?

Can we train people to use these tools wisely or will we always be caught by the bootlace paradox?

(The bootlace paradox describes the common human situation where the individual at the centre of a behavioural problem cannot by definition cure the problem. To do so would be like trying to pick yourself up by your own bootlaces – it cannot be done. It is the same with the human brain and unwanted behaviours – this is the source of addiction. Outside help is required. So it is virtually impossible for corporations (or nations) suffering from outdated internal cultures to change these without external help – or court jesters!)

Conclusions

Cultural institutions are probably the most important factor affecting human behaviour in the mass. Very little academic research has been done on identifying the key institutions which determine the long term viability of either nations or corporations. Even less work has been done on the important question of how they can be changed – we call this the challenge of cultural engineering.

Scandinavian Virtues