Think in ecosystems, not systems
When we want to change the system, we’re still thinking in terms of systems. That only leads to more authoritarianism, even if the despots briefly agree with us. Instead, thinking in ecosystems changes both the question and the process entirely.
The better way to pose this question is to tack a few extra letters onto the front: how should the ecosystem work? As soon as you start thinking in ecosystems, you stop imagining that everyone has to live under one New World Order. You start wondering what mix of organisms might keep the ecosystem healthy, and how they might coexist with one another.
Most importantly, when you think in ecosystems, you start thinking about where you might fit in. The greatest cost of authoritarian thinking—besides the whole stomping on necks thing—is that it only ever leads us to ask, “What should the all-powerful leader do?” instead of “What should I do?” —Adam Mastroianni, Good Ideas Don’t Need Bayonets
- see also: diversity provides stability — the more diverse an ecosystem is, the healthier it is
- see also: the three lies of power, that good ideas must be forced from a central authority
- previously: rhizomatic thinking is non-hierarchal and relational — we have the template for what a non-hierarchal system looks like right in front of us, and also self-organizing systems of vast complexity are the way of the world
- related: animism is a dynamic, relational structure