1/10/2011 Reply to Frank Way

Thank you for your thoughtful correspondence.

The part of A New Ism for which I look for inspiration in Native Culture is pre-colombian, within a generation of contact, and that which has survived the cultural genocide of the europeans.  I agree there are a lot of lost generations that cannot be helped.  There are young people, however, hungry for a way out of that cycle of dependence and decline, that could greatly benefit from your scientific background. 

But this current sad state of affairs can be laid at the feet of the capitalist Railroad Barons and their promotion of the Dawes Act which destroyed native people's ability to manage resources as a people and forced them live as individuals.  This is the Act that destroyed the ancient successful ways of mutual survival of my Aniyunwiya (Cherokee) ancestors.  Also, the systematic effort to make all Native People "equal" to diminish the blistering effectiveness of the Great Chiefs who were causing the Railroad, Gold, Cattle, and Agricultural Capitalists such problems. 

The land that my people were "given" in the Dawes Act was quickly swindled away after the discovery of oil on it and systemic alcoholism and despair drove my grandfather to LA to build Liberty Ships during WWII and to pass for white.  He later ended up owning his own highly successful 76 Station at the Angeles Crest Highway in La Canada/Flintridge (until Union Oil took it away from him) and rode in the same hunt club as Ronald Reagan and the elite of Hollywood society -- thus, the "Indian" story is more complex than just that of the human refuse that were not able to manage to leave the unfertile ghettos that remained after the best had been taken away.  But, in spite of all that, A New Ism cannot be about reparations for the past, it can only be expressed in the spirit of my Grandfather Jack Rogers who overcame his circumstances thru hard work and perseverance.

I think that the great native leaders of old would argue that our Old Ism (capitalism -- which ironically is actually the newer Ism) is a new way of surviving what is threatening to destroy our planet, our political systems, and our humanity.  I look to the Great Peacemaker of the Iroquois, who's wisdom is all over our constitutional form of government, the great Leaders of the Nez Perce who's decentralized social structure humiliated General Howard's hierarchical one, Geronimo (to whom my Great Grandmother served breakfast in a diner in Texoma on his railroad ride to exile) who showed the decimating power of decentralized leadership inspired by moral authority, and Ishi, the last of the Yahi of California, (who my maternal Grandmother saw in San Francisco as a young girl) who cautioned Professor Kroeber to be careful of denigrating the technology of lighters and matches until he have been in the wet woods, freezing, with no way to make fire.

I hope to convince you that A New Ism based on teachings of these Great Leaders is deeply compatible with science and technology and may in fact better inform us as to which technologies we should pursue in order to insure our prosperous survival, and will not, as in the capitalist model, simply pursue technologies regardless of their impact on real people, real living creatures, real pure water, and real clean air.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, January 10, 2011 9:40 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>
Cc: <datohmu@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I grew up with Native Americans.  I only knew one who was interested in science and engineering.  He was a fellow student on a full ride scholarship from Harold's Club in Reno, as was I.  Unfortunately he let alcohol get the best of him in his senior year and he did not graduate.  I had expected to see quite a few Shoshone people this weekend when my sons and I went to Beatty and Death Valley.  Surprisingly enough I only recognized Paiutes where we traveled. I think the Shoshone had gone on down to Tecopah to spend the winter.  I am not sure if you are aware of it, but any time you see the three letter combination "pah" in a name, it means water.  Thus Tonopah means brush water.  There are other places such as Pahrump, Ivanpah, Weepah, Pahranagat and so on forth.  In any case, the reason I bring this up is my knowledge of the Native Americans and the times I have spent with them leads me to wonder if their Isms will actually provide us with such a better approach to the scientific world we live in.  My best friend in high school was the Native American son of our sheriff in Beatty.  We were playing with a model T coil and some vacuum tubes from the high school film projector when we managed to get blue arcs to form in the vacuum tubes.  After doing that I thought that it would be very interesting to be an electrical engineer and deal with things which people could not see and understand.

 

                My friend's father was one day alerted by long distance phone that two men had stolen a plane in Los Angeles, flown it to Tonopah, where they stole a car and headed south.  Gilbert Landis [my friend's father] enlisted the help of several local men in the community including one old codger who was a crack shot.  They chased the vehicle through our town while the old codger shot out the tires on the vehicle they were pursuing.  A tourist's wife remarked to him that it was a very realistic movie they were shooting.  The end result was Gilbert having his picture on the cover of Life Magazine as he was standing on the wing of the stolen plane.  We later christened him Gunsmoke and painted a section of the curb at the Exchange Club red for him.  There were white letters on the red curb which informed people that the space was reserved for Gunsmoke.

 

                My wife and I provided a place in our home for a Navaho woman and her three children to stay for three weeks while she endeavored to get a job in Chico and go back to school there.  Her father was Keys who was a good friend of Peter McDonald.  My wife was even a member of the Native American Basket Weavers Association while she went to California State University at Chico.  My wife has some Cherokee blood.

 

                I think that our Political leaders could benefit from some of the new Ism thinking, but I don't see the new Ism as being any great benefit to the Scientific and Engineering community.  The Jews, Germans and non Native American US citizens seem to have an edge in those areas.  Somehow we need to come up with a strategy for the Native Americans to successfully deal with their genetically based inability to deal with Alcoholism.  The Northern Europeans have coexisted with Alcohol for millenniums and some of us have the ability to reject such addiction.  Unfortunately the Native Americans are not blessed with such an ability.  When I lived in Beatty, Gunsmoke would carefully step over the people who were passed out on the sidewalks after having had too much alcohol.  It was much easier to do that than to haul them 96 miles to Tonopah and put them in jail.

 

                Thank you for your correspondence.  I shall try to support your efforts in the future.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 11:58 AM
To: Frank Way
Cc: datohmu@sumpeople.org
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

A New Ism has to celebrate the organizational expertise of such organizations.  It is about identifying great leaders, then giving them the resources and autonomy to met clearly articulated goals.  It is also about the individual excellence that a resume like yours typifies.  Most progressive economic initiatives tend to celebrate the collective over individual effort and the division of labor that complex collaboration requires.

Again, I look to the American Revolution for inspiration.  In the book "The Genius of America" the authors make the case that the success of the American Experiment, verses so many other failed efforts to improve government, was that it was lead by people who loved government.  Whereas, the people who lead almost every other revolution in the history of the world hated government and saw it as, at best, a necessary evil.  A New Ism, to be practical and successful, needs to come from a love of a well run, efficient incorporation of the diverse talents of skilled and masterful individuals.  That is the "gold standard" for economic success.  What we suggest is that by adding the layer of structural, institutional support of leaders who are the advocates and champions of their people (which I would suggest the leaders in your best organizations were) that those great leaders will be free to take their teams even further -- rather than always having to fight upper management who tend to believe that people are widgets that can be used hard, not maintained, and easily replaced when broken.

A New Ism will most likely not start with building rocket engines, as almost no new company could either.  Those companies have hundreds of years of experience.  But businesses like banking and insurance that would greatly benefit from better customer service, more community mindedness, and a more committed workforce (with the hiring of good experienced individuals in all work areas) are more practical first efforts.  Industries like software that are more highly dependent on the skills of its workers (over the machinery, multi-departmental processes, and the political connections needed in the industries you reference) could be very attractive options.  Music, Film, and Television are industries where highly politically and socially activated workers (mostly Democrats) are the "factories" -- one Matt Damon or Brad Pitt could green light a film project based on their involvement alone.  Also, promising startups, where the founders are looking at giving up control to venture capitalists in order to move their ideas forward, would be extremely open to a proposal from A New Ism venture fund, where the ideals are building an interdependent team and keeping skilled leadership in place.  Startup founders may not be open to accountable leadership, and the possibility of getting fired if they no longer are the best person for the job, however they face this with typical venture capital anyway and may find a more open democratic process more appealing than the caprice of one or two economic monarchs making the decision (for democratic processes have a higher probability of being lead by logic and truth rather than by whim, prejudice, or inflated self egos).

It is exactly masterful individuals like yourself that will be key to the success of A New Ism.  And, it is exactly this quality that is missing from Socialism and Communism.  Looking to the indigenous model, it was the Chiefs and Skilled Warriors and the Expert Women who lead the tribe -- not the brash young neophyte with little or no experience.  And yet, they did have a part to play in a Headman, Headwoman or Elder Council's strategy, but they rarely were allow to participate in the deliberations that produced that strategy.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 5:05 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I asked these questions, because I have worked for some world class employers, such as the Rocketdyne and Autonetics divisions of North American Aviation, the TDK systems division of TDK Japan, the Grass Valley Group division of Tektronix and Nevada Bell Telephone, division of AT&T.  I can tell you that they are continually changing and evolving in order  to stay at the head of the pack.  When working for North American Aviation, I tested the Gemini space craft engines and the Lunar Descent Module rocket engine.  While I worked for TDK, they sent me to Finland to deal with Nokia and to Cannes France to deal with a division of Rockwell.  While working for the Grass Valley Group, NASA solicited us to provide 10 million dollars worth of video switching systems for the Kennedy Space Center (which I proposed and delivered), after which we furnished large systems to Oak Ridge and Savannah river.  When I worked for Nevada Bell Telephone, we provided the communications to Area 51 for  the testing of the Blackbird.  The Grass Valley Group designed and manufactured  the world's best video switching systems and Tektronix designed and manufactured the world's best oscilloscopes.

 

                If your new ISM is going to compete with firms like the ones I worked for, you have a very rough road ahead of you.  The best way to break into this game is to invent and or design something new, which the world wants and needs.  Doing so requires attracting and hiring some very intelligent and high priced talent.  I have a BS in Physics, a BSEE and all the course credits for a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  I am also a Registered Professional Engineer.  NASA required me to submit my resume before they would negotiate with us for the systems which were provided.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 10:36 AM
To: Frank Way
Subject: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

Dear Frank,

Thank you for spending your time listening to us last night.  Art George is his name (or Mountain Eagle that Soars over the Valleys). 

I guess my quick answer to your question is "Better".  More efficiently, more effectively, cheaper, with less environmental impacts, and with more autonomy giving to skilled engineers and key experts who are able to coordinate their areas with all other areas of these complex enterprises successfully.

In fact, when these types of operations are best is when they express the key principles of this New Ism that we are researching and trying to articulate.  There was a recent story of a mortality rate comparison between well managed hospitals and poorly managed ones. 

http://worldmanagementsurvey.org/wp-content/images/2010/10/Management_in_Healthcare_Report_2010.pdf  

These researchers discovered key factors to good management. 

1. Skilled knowledgeable managers (this was the element of mastery in leadership we mentioned last night).
2. Broad autonomy given to these key managers (this is the element of decentralized but coordinated systems that we mentioned last night).
3. Competition (Again, decentralized, market driven systems are what are imagined within an effective New Ism).
4. Bigger is better (We did not touch on this last night, but the thought is that small enterprises are probably best as authoritarian, centralized (capitalistic) enterprises as the small business owners of these enterprises put in far more effort and energy into the enterprises than typical employees, and not only deserve the bulk of the benefits of enterprise, but also should have the decision making control to give the enterprise the best chance of survival in difficult times.  A New Ism will need to be focused on the structure of big business in my opinion and theory suggests that it will make those enterprises more nimble, more efficient, and better managed.  
5. Their final finding was that private hospitals were better managed than public.  I have several questions about this finding such as "Who paid for the study?", and "Did the private hospitals have more money to work with per patient?"  But the work of Elinor Ostrom suggests that with proper "design parameters" that the third way of "common pool resource management" offers even better outcomes that either public or private, so the fact that private is better managed than public does not mean that private is de facto the best option.

Underlying your questions is another bigger question which is "can people self manage themselves better than authoritarian management can manage them?"  This same question was at the heart of the American Revolution.  The Tories and Loyalists of the time argued that the "rabble" could never govern a nation and that the firm hand of the monarch was needed to maintain order.  We now know that the argument was false in the case of government.  In fact, no large industrialized nation can be managed as a monarchy because of the structural design limitations of authoritarian government -- just as you cannot build a skyscraper with wood frame construction.  It turns out that non-authoritarian, collaborative organizational structures are the only ones capable of the complex, epic projects that you suggest.  In fact, the space program, and large construction projects, exemplify the very principals that we are trying to identify in a New Ism.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Your new Ism
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 9:24 am
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I enjoyed listening to you and Art last night.  By the way, what is Art's last name, and his email address?

 

                After thinking about what you are proposing, I must ask  you several questions.

 

                How would your new Ism have put the first man on the moon?

 

                How would it have designed  and produced the latest Boeing passenger Jet?

 

                How would it have designed and built one of the newest cruise ships?

 

                How would it compete with major corporations in the world markets?

 

 

                Please forward this to Art.

 

                Frank Way

Return of the 10,000 Chiefs

Hello Andy,

I am writing on behalf of Mountain Eagle who Soars over the Valleys (Art
George). Mountain Eagle is a Datohmu of the Washeshu and a traditional
practitioner of the teachings of his Washo Elders, representing their
knowledge of the Greater Tahoe Basin -- a knowledge which is many
thousands of years old. He is also an advisor to Agnes Baker Pilgrim,
Chair of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, and is
working with her guidance here at home.

Mountain Eagle has been given a vision of the Return of 10,000 Chiefs.
It is a profoundly ancient, and at the same time modern, vision of
renewal -- a path forward to bring us all into a deeper harmony with all
living things, the air, the water, and the spirits of creation.

He wishes to find a place in Truckee to have a monthly series of
meetings to speak of his vision and to find individuals who wish to join
him in his search for the 10,000 Chiefs who will lead the creation of a
global nation based on ancient principals, but using new corporate
tools. He was hoping that For Goodness Sake might be a welcome host to
the manifestation of this dream.

With Hope and Determination,

Michael Rogers
Communications Manager
A New Ism Project
m@anewism.org
530-587-5160

[FWD: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter]

A New Ism has to celebrate the organizational expertise of such organizations.  It is about identifying great leaders, then giving them the resources and autonomy to met clearly articulated goals.  It is also about the individual excellence that a resume like yours typifies.  Most progressive economic initiatives tend to celebrate the collective over individual effort and the division of labor that complex collaboration requires.

Again, I look to the American Revolution for inspiration.  In the book "The Genius of America" the authors make the case that the success of the American Experiment, verses so many other failed efforts to improve government, was that it was lead by people who loved government.  Whereas, the people who lead almost every other revolution in the history of the world hated government and saw it as, at best, a necessary evil.  A New Ism, to be practical and successful, needs to come from a love of a well run, efficient incorporation of the diverse talents of skilled and masterful individuals.  That is the "gold standard" for economic success.  What we suggest is that by adding the layer of structural, institutional support of leaders who are the advocates and champions of their people (which I would suggest the leaders in your best organizations were) that those great leaders will be free to take their teams even further -- rather than always having to fight upper management who tend to believe that people are widgets that can be used hard, not maintained, and easily replaced when broken.

A New Ism will most likely not start with building rocket engines, as almost no new company could either.  Those companies have hundreds of years of experience.  But businesses like banking and insurance that would greatly benefit from better customer service, more community mindedness, and a more committed workforce (with the hiring of good experienced individuals in all work areas) are more practical first efforts.  Industries like software that are more highly dependent on the skills of its workers (over the machinery, multi-departmental processes, and the political connections needed in the industries you reference) could be very attractive options.  Music, Film, and Television are industries where highly politically and socially activated workers (mostly Democrats) are the "factories" -- one Matt Damon or Brad Pitt could green light a film project based on their involvement alone.  Also, promising startups, where the founders are looking at giving up control to venture capitalists in order to move their ideas forward, would be extremely open to a proposal from A New Ism venture fund, where the ideals are building an interdependent team and keeping skilled leadership in place.  Startup founders may not be open to accountable leadership, and the possibility of getting fired if they no longer are the best person for the job, however they face this with typical venture capital anyway and may find a more open democratic process more appealing than the caprice of one or two economic monarchs making the decision (for democratic processes have a higher probability of being lead by logic and truth rather than by whim, prejudice, or inflated self egos).

It is exactly masterful individuals like yourself that will be key to the success of A New Ism.  And, it is exactly this quality that is missing from Socialism and Communism.  Looking to the indigenous model, it was the Chiefs and Skilled Warriors and the Expert Women who lead the tribe -- not the brash young neophyte with little or no experience.  And yet, they did have a part to play in a Headman, Headwoman or Elder Council's strategy, but they rarely were allow to participate in the deliberations that produced that strategy.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: 1/5/2011 Letter
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 5:05 pm
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I asked these questions, because I have worked for some world class employers, such as the Rocketdyne and Autonetics divisions of North American Aviation, the TDK systems division of TDK Japan, the Grass Valley Group division of Tektronix and Nevada Bell Telephone, division of AT&T.  I can tell you that they are continually changing and evolving in order  to stay at the head of the pack.  When working for North American Aviation, I tested the Gemini space craft engines and the Lunar Descent Module rocket engine.  While I worked for TDK, they sent me to Finland to deal with Nokia and to Cannes France to deal with a division of Rockwell.  While working for the Grass Valley Group, NASA solicited us to provide 10 million dollars worth of video switching systems for the Kennedy Space Center (which I proposed and delivered), after which we furnished large systems to Oak Ridge and Savannah river.  When I worked for Nevada Bell Telephone, we provided the communications to Area 51 for  the testing of the Blackbird.  The Grass Valley Group designed and manufactured  the world's best video switching systems and Tektronix designed and manufactured the world's best oscilloscopes.

 

                If your new ISM is going to compete with firms like the ones I worked for, you have a very rough road ahead of you.  The best way to break into this game is to invent and or design something new, which the world wants and needs.  Doing so requires attracting and hiring some very intelligent and high priced talent.  I have a BS in Physics, a BSEE and all the course credits for a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  I am also a Registered Professional Engineer.  NASA required me to submit my resume before they would negotiate with us for the systems which were provided.

 

                Frank

 

From: m@sumpeople.org [mailto:m@sumpeople.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 10:36 AM
To: Frank Way
Subject: 1/5/2011 Letter

 

Dear Frank,

Thank you for spending your time listening to us last night.  Art George is his name (or Mountain Eagle that Soars over the Valleys). 

I guess my quick answer to your question is "Better".  More efficiently, more effectively, cheaper, with less environmental impacts, and with more autonomy giving to skilled engineers and key experts who are able to coordinate their areas with all other areas of these complex enterprises successfully.

In fact, when these types of operations are best is when they express the key principles of this New Ism that we are researching and trying to articulate.  There was a recent story of a mortality rate comparison between well managed hospitals and poorly managed ones. 

http://worldmanagementsurvey.org/wp-content/images/2010/10/Management_in_Healthcare_Report_2010.pdf  

These researchers discovered key factors to good management. 

1. Skilled knowledgeable managers (this was the element of mastery in leadership we mentioned last night).
2. Broad autonomy given to these key managers (this is the element of decentralized but coordinated systems that we mentioned last night).
3. Competition (Again, decentralized, market driven systems are what are imagined within an effective New Ism).
4. Bigger is better (We did not touch on this last night, but the thought is that small enterprises are probably best as authoritarian, centralized (capitalistic) enterprises as the small business owners of these enterprises put in far more effort and energy into the enterprises than typical employees, and not only deserve the bulk of the benefits of enterprise, but also should have the decision making control to give the enterprise the best chance of survival in difficult times.  A New Ism will need to be focused on the structure of big business in my opinion and theory suggests that it will make those enterprises more nimble, more efficient, and better managed.  
5. Their final finding was that private hospitals were better managed than public.  I have several questions about this finding such as "Who paid for the study?", and "Did the private hospitals have more money to work with per patient?"  But the work of Elinor Ostrom suggests that with proper "design parameters" that the third way of "common pool resource management" offers even better outcomes that either public or private, so the fact that private is better managed than public does not mean that private is de facto the best option.

Underlying your questions is another bigger question which is "can people self manage themselves better than authoritarian management can manage them?"  This same question was at the heart of the American Revolution.  The Tories and Loyalists of the time argued that the "rabble" could never govern a nation and that the firm hand of the monarch was needed to maintain order.  We now know that the argument was false in the case of government.  In fact, no large industrialized nation can be managed as a monarchy because of the structural design limitations of authoritarian government -- just as you cannot build a skyscraper with wood frame construction.  It turns out that non-authoritarian, collaborative organizational structures are the only ones capable of the complex, epic projects that you suggest.  In fact, the space program, and large construction projects, exemplify the very principals that we are trying to identify in a New Ism.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Your new Ism
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 9:24 am
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I enjoyed listening to you and Art last night.  By the way, what is Art's last name, and his email address?

 

                After thinking about what you are proposing, I must ask  you several questions.

 

                How would your new Ism have put the first man on the moon?

 

                How would it have designed  and produced the latest Boeing passenger Jet?

 

                How would it have designed and built one of the newest cruise ships?

 

                How would it compete with major corporations in the world markets?

 

 

                Please forward this to Art.

 

                Frank Way

1/5/2011 Letter

Dear Frank,

Thank you for spending your time listening to us last night.  Art George is his name (or Mountain Eagle that Soars over the Valleys). 

I guess my quick answer to your question is "Better".  More efficiently, more effectively, cheaper, with less environmental impacts, and with more autonomy giving to skilled engineers and key experts who are able to coordinate their areas with all other areas of these complex enterprises successfully.

In fact, when these types of operations are best is when they express the key principles of this New Ism that we are researching and trying to articulate.  There was a recent story of a mortality rate comparison between well managed hospitals and poorly managed ones. 

http://worldmanagementsurvey.org/wp-content/images/2010/10/Management_in_Healthcare_Report_2010.pdf  

These researchers discovered key factors to good management. 

1. Skilled knowledgeable managers (this was the element of mastery in leadership we mentioned last night).
2. Broad autonomy given to these key managers (this is the element of decentralized but coordinated systems that we mentioned last night).
3. Competition (Again, decentralized, market driven systems are what are imagined within an effective New Ism).
4. Bigger is better (We did not touch on this last night, but the thought is that small enterprises are probably best as authoritarian, centralized (capitalistic) enterprises as the small business owners of these enterprises put in far more effort and energy into the enterprises than typical employees, and not only deserve the bulk of the benefits of enterprise, but also should have the decision making control to give the enterprise the best chance of survival in difficult times.  A New Ism will need to be focused on the structure of big business in my opinion and theory suggests that it will make those enterprises more nimble, more efficient, and better managed.  
5. Their final finding was that private hospitals were better managed than public.  I have several questions about this finding such as "Who paid for the study?", and "Did the private hospitals have more money to work with per patient?"  But the work of Elinor Ostrom suggests that with proper "design parameters" that the third way of "common pool resource management" offers even better outcomes that either public or private, so the fact that private is better managed than public does not mean that private is de facto the best option.
   

Underlying your questions is another bigger question which is "can people self manage themselves better than authoritarian management can manage them?"  This same question was at the heart of the American Revolution.  The Tories and Loyalists of the time argued that the "rabble" could never govern a nation and that the firm hand of the monarch was needed to maintain order.  We now know that the argument was false in the case of government.  In fact, no large industrialized nation can be managed as a monarchy because of the structural design limitations of authoritarian government -- just as you cannot build a skyscraper with wood frame construction.  It turns out that non-authoritarian, collaborative organizational structures are the only ones capable of the complex, epic projects that you suggest.  In fact, the space program, and large construction projects, exemplify the very principals that we are trying to identify in a New Ism.

Michael

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Your new Ism
From: "Frank Way" <frankpway@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, January 05, 2011 9:24 am
To: <m@sumpeople.org>

Michael:

 

                I enjoyed listening to you and Art last night.  By the way, what is Art's last name, and his email address?

 

                After thinking about what you are proposing, I must ask  you several questions.

 

                How would your new Ism have put the first man on the moon?

 

                How would it have designed  and produced the latest Boeing passenger Jet?

 

                How would it have designed and built one of the newest cruise ships?

 

                How would it compete with major corporations in the world markets?

 

 

                Please forward this to Art.

 

                Frank Way

Re: Hello

Don't worry.  Life is busy.  I apologize for my over eagerness to contact you, but reading your posts and watching the video of Mr. Ackoff got my creative juices flowing.  His humor, cynicism, and piercing intelligence jumped off the screen at me.  Then, when I discovered that he was instrumental in the creation of systems thinking as applied to business structures, I had this powerful moment of realizing that many of the ideas I have been struggling to understand came partly from this specific creative mind -- that ideas are not abstractions but are the careful creation of real human people and they issue forth from them and touch people like me without us ever having to know who the creator of them was.

I have some specific ideas about the new form of governance that you mention.  It is a shame that Obama used the new near-zero-cost mass-coordination tools to get elected and then abandoned them to govern.  I am working on a collaborative networking tool called Sumpeople that is an effort to create the concrete software needed to do just what you speak of.  I believe that if the political collaboration module could be combined with a economic collaboration module (as well as the social module that programs like facebook offer) then people would see how using the program would help achieve their short and long term goals and they would get off the couch and come together.  I want to test this aggregation program out on the Nevada County Supervisor election in the 5th District of Truckee.  My motto will be "You rule, I'll serve".

However, I am convinced that economic reform is were the greatest hope for systemic change lies.  If we think of business enterprises as interdependent systems, then the same seismic shift that political democracy had on the day to day lives of regular people could occur in our economic lives.  I call it corporate peoplehood (as opposed to the corporate personhood of Citizen's United).  We had great problems in the 1700s when we thought of Nations as a "person" -- England was a man, the King.  But the shift to imagining a Nation as a "people" with the application of checks and balances, separation of powers, elected accountable governance, rule of law, and representative democracy created an explosion of prosperity and build the "American Dream".   The same unleashing of the creativity of regular citizens will occur with the democratization of our economy. 

But the 1700s was the age of the Nation State, as it took power from the Church.  Now we are in the age of the Corporate State and they haven't even had a Magna Carta yet, much less a Declaration of Independence (although I prefer a Declaration of Interdependence and a Bill of Responsibilities).  My premise is that the application of the hundreds of years of thought that have gone into the creation of democratic civic government can be used to create profitable, dynamic, sustainable, and nurturing incorporations of community that can fulfill the conservative vision of small governance and liberated business at the same time as fulfilling the progressive vision of a fair and just society where we take care of each other and live sustainably.

My problem is that I am not a writer, I am a speaker.  I will work on "A New Ism" piece for your review, because I do need to do it.  "A New Ism Project" is an effort to engage my community in this discussion in a collaborative open ended way.  Not to say "This is what the New Ism should be!", but instead to ask "What would you like A New Ism to be?"  And then I hope to lead them in test marketing this new economic theory in our area, to be exported if it shows value.    

I have include the Declaration of Interdependence that was adopted on 7/7/2007, where I attempted to show how similar our current times were to our revolutionary ones.  It is a rewriting of the Declaration of Independence with as few changes as were needed to adapt it to the Corporate Tyranny we now are living under.  I was amazed how little need to be reworked.

Please come stay at my cabins if you make it to Northern California.  I look forward to keeping in touch with you and continuing to read what you create.

Peace,

Michael Rogers  "Great things are wanting to be done."   -- John Adams, 2nd President of the United States 

On 12/8/2010 11:24 PM, Steven Brant wrote:

Hi Michael,

I apologize for not writing sooner, but I'm having a very busy week.

I'm very happy to see the list of all the ideas you work with in what you do.  My own list overlaps with yours, although normally I just talk about three people - Buckminster Fuller, W. Edwards Deming, and Russell Ackoff - as being my primary mentors and influencers when it comes to my personal philosophy and the ideas I am working to propagate out into society.

I'm sorry we don't live closer, because - if we did - I'm sure I'd enjoy participating in the discussion your A New Ism event in Nevada City.

If you have a think piece on that subject that you'd like me to comment on, I'd be happy to do so.  Otherwise, we could certainly talk on the phone some time.  I'm pretty booked between now and Dec 22, which is when I leave for a trip to L.A.  I will return to NYC on Jan 4th.  Perhaps we could talk after then?

Thanks for commenting on my latest HuffPost essay.  It wasn't about a new "ism"... but it was the beginnings of a conversation i"m seeking to start about a new "attitude".  I really feel it's time that "we the people" start being full partners with our elected officials rather than thinking we can just sit back after we've elected them and let them run things for us.  Even though for some people this will take time away from watching mindless things on television or playing computer games, I think it's ultimately a change in how people spend their time that's critically important.

I'm happy my sister connected us.

Best regards,

Steve

steve@trimtabmanagementsystems.com 

Skype:  stevengbrant

http://www.trimtabmanagementsystems.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-g-brant

http://www.facebook.com/stevengbrant

http://www.twitter.com/stevebrant

http://bit.ly/1cA8YD (memorial essay to Russ Ackoff)

"Human history becomes more and more 

a race between education and catastrophe." 

- H. G. Wells 

On Dec 5, 2010, at 12:11 PM, Michael Rogers wrote:

I have been having an email exchange with your sister and she thinks we might have somethings in common. In reading your Huffington Postings, I know we do. I am speaking on "A New Ism Project" in Nevada City in January which is an attempt to create the ideologica­l social software to apply Systems Thinking to the creation of a new ism, but also bringing in Game Theory, Complexity Theory, Coordinati­on Theory, Common Pool Resource Management­, Judgment Aggregatio­n, Reciprocal Altruism, the Evolution of Cooperatio­n, Non-Zero, Non Violence Communicat­ion, et al, into a cohesive ideology that will be ready to apply for the job when we fire Capitalism­, just as the Soviet Bloc has fired Socialism and Communism for their deficienci­es. The idea is to lead with the question of "What do you think should be in A New Ism?", not "this is The New Ism.

I look forward to having the chance to meet you."

--  Michael Rogers  "Great things are wanting to be done."   -- John Adams, 2nd President of the United States 

In Dealing With Blackmailers, We Can Help You, Mr. President

Better government is great, but I think better companies are the answer first. We are in the age of the Corporate State. 2007 was the tipping point. Of the 100 largest economies in the world, the majority are now corporatio­ns, not government­s. Akio Morita, the founder of Sony, said "Nations are a dying industry, corporatio­ns are the structures of the future."



In the 1770s we asked "What if a nation could be a people, not a person"? -- if you said you fought for "England" you meant a man, not a country. National Personhood was transforme­d by National Peoplehood­. Well, what if we could have companies that were of the people, by the people, and for the people, instead of the nightmare of tyranny that is Corporate Personhood­? Then riches could come back into the light of day.



"Capitalis­m is Dead, long live A New Ism".
About Bush Tax Cuts
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

In Dealing With Blackmailers, We Can Help You, Mr. President

Warren Buffet, of all people, has said that we are developing a country "where the great positions in society are going to those born of the right womb, and that is almost un-America­n." I say that is not "almost un-America­n", that is the definition of un-America­n.



What the right fails to acknowledg­e (in public anyway) is that the idea that the rich are "earning" their money is not the convention­al wisdom in the country anymore. The Tea Party candidate in West Virginia this year said it best when he said "I made my money the old fashion way, I inherited it".



What the left really wants is for the wealth of this nation to go to the people who earned it, not to the ones who's daddy did and were just "born of the right womb."
About Bush Tax Cuts
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost