1. Change and Society
2. By Dr Victor Kacala
3. 7/7/5.
4. This work builds on "The Challenge of Change" by
["Dod" = ] Dexter Dunphy, the Boyer Lectures 1972,
ABC.
5. I use extracts as a basis for my ideas and views on
governance & management, with a focus on education in
the 21st century. I have designed a number of systems
to measure input and output values for any arbitrary
linear system with a set of random errors. Feedback to
a management or governance system is the crucial
aspect of this design. How can errors be measured in a
'real time' system? What is an error? To know the size
and direction of an error, we must have some 'true'
knowledge of the process that is being measured. Of
course, we do NOT have 'true' knowledge of any system,
especially social systems such as education & health.
6. Chapter 1 = “Riders in the Chariot"
7. P11 "We continually fail to realize that every
major technological innovation must be accompanied by
a significant change of mind. When the truth finally
forces itself upon us and we feel the first impact of
new technology on our lives, our impulse is to resist
it. We rush first to be saved by technology and then
to be saved from it. But the pace of change is so
fast, the new technologies so revolutionary, that we
cannot resist change for long without major problems
occurring."
8. This was so in 1972 - it is so in 2005. Many of the
things that Dod said have come to pass. I write about
an evolution in the human species via a set of tech
changes or 'inventions'. People fear change due to the
doubt about their 'future' economic security e.g.,
some job markets may disappear as a result of skills
no longer being required. Thus, it is important to
specify how people can adapt to my invention - this is
very true in the education & the health areas & other
social policy (my focus).
9. p12 "Our social beliefs and values have not
adjusted readily to the industrial revolution, let
alone to the post-industrial society of computers and
cybernetics which is our emerging reality."
10. The invention is called "the cup & puc systems of
fair trade or exchange" = "cup&puc" for short, or the
"cup system". My invention will be a global PUBLIC
patent. The issue that I face is: how do I ensure that
the cup system is not used to build a PRIVATE patent
that uses a PUBLIC patent? This is no easy matter; no
one has done this before. A condition for the use of
my patent for public or private use is that the cup
system cannot be used as part of any other PRIVATE
patent i.e., output from the cup system cannot be used
as input or output for a non-global patent. I am clear
about my INTENT of this public patent. The patent
system we have in place is a total mess, and could
lead to total dominance by a small 'nasty'=greedy
group. Thus, a condition of use for my public patent
is 'fair' use & a fair rate of return. What is a
'fair" rate of return? I define this within the
cup&puc and my other papers.
11. P12 “… there is a limit to the time we have to
ignore the powerful reality of revolutionary [or
evolutionary] technology that demands a new social
world.”
12. Dod does not specify how this “new social reality”
is to come about. The object of my patent (“the”
public patent), is to show how a better global system
of governance=management is to come about. The tech
specs will be given in a recursive fashion. The back
ground & context is given in zolotenko_at_yahoo.com, with
the password “solotenko”, my mother’s maiden name.
13. P13 “What can replace the time we once had to
adjust to new inventions? First, we need much more
expert knowledge. Once we could afford to test things
by trial and error, almost haphazardly. Now there
simply isn’t time and so we need more accurate
knowledge of how new inventions will affect our
lives.”
14. It is clear that pollies have said some thing like
this, at a global level. However, our systems of
governance are not up to the task. Greed has been
pushed to the top through our media ‘gurus’ and
experts. The patent will show HOW to evolve our
systems of governance. This involves a ‘re-education’
of the pollies, who are in power, & teachers, who
control the evolution of education, at all levels. The
big hurdle is fear of change due to potential large
scale job loss (especially, the ‘old’ style teachers)
– teachers must be put at the centre of change, rather
than central agencies or pollies.
15. To that end, I have written a paper called
“literacy & numeracy in business ethics” – this paper
can be adapted to the local context by teachers and
students. Subject based ‘courses will cease to exist.
To the maximal extent, students should govern how
classes and courses evolve i.e., use student
‘knowledge’ to the maximal extent possible. A very
useful set of ideas can be found in a book called “My
Ideal School”.
16. P14 “Our most critical problem now is not to
sustain the forward thrust of traditional technology
but to discover ways to cope with its staggering
consequences.”
17. This is the case today, after more than thirty
years. Basically, we are all in the poo!
18. P14 “We are in love with another little word
called GROWTH-bigger, we have decided, must be
bigger.”
19. Dod is out of his depth here, even though a
Professor of sociology & business administration. It
is not enough to be critical, a better set of options
must be clearly spelled out that is simple and
technically feasible & sound. The problem is NOT the
focus on “growth”; the problem is that the globe does
not have proper measures of growth. Economic measures
of growth omit or exclude large parts of the inputs &
outputs of social exchange and trade. Thus, the globe
needs new measures of growth that are simple & easy to
understand by pollies, at all levels of governance &
management.
20. Our tech heads in economics have failed us
miserably. ALL indices of growth are flawed. Economics
is awash with tech fluff & gurus who float around
academia & higher levels of management.
21. Gurus are THE problem in economics & management.
22. P14 “It is this naïve enthusiasm for progress that
is bringing us nearer the point of no return.”
23. P15 “The only responsible stance is to attempt to
direct technological, ecological and social change to
human ends.”
24. P15 “What is necessary is that we weave a
political and economic harness to steer and control
our technical juggernaut.”
25. We do not have the information systems to do this
in a fair or efficient way. Our economic measurement
systems & market structures are grossly unfair and
biased for elites across the globe.
26. P15 “We are threatened by the pace of change, by
the frightening lack of guide posts for the future
that is looming before us.”
27. P15 “Will our even survive the impending
ecological catastrophe that is prophesised? Rather
than confront these problems, we never avert our eyes
and try not to think of the future at all.”
28. We do think of the future. The focus is on OUR
(e.g., “family”) future, rather than the future of
society at a national or global level. Thus, our
thinking about ‘others’ in our social systems must
change. There is a real lack of ‘vision’ and courage
by pollies, at a global level. When we see (say) the
head of a bank get $50 million as a ‘fair’ termination
payment, those at the bottom of the economic pile lose
a lot of confidence in pollies and society at a
general level.
29. My view, and many others seem to agree, is that
the human species will not survive the 21st century if
we do not fix our systems of governance & management.
Some may not ‘like’ it, but we are a global community.
30. Chapter 2 = “The Searching Self”
31. P18 “If change offers us new opportunities, we
must use these opportunities to find genuine
fulfilment in our personal lives. For if a changing
society doesn’t offer me that, it offers me nothing.”
32. A key problem is our systems that block or
concentrate new technology in our information systems.
It is for this reason that ‘gurus’ with high social
status (based on flawed social credit systems), form a
major hurdle to social evolution.
33. Social ‘scientists’, for the most part, are brain
dead and have a focus on their own reputation and guru
status – these gurus clone statistics of dubious merit
as evidence, based on correlation analysis and old (or
irrelevant) social data based on previous policy
regimes.
34. The need for real time social statistics (with
VIGOROUS checking by maths & stats people), is a
crucial requirement for valid information systems for
policy evaluation and design.
35. P21 “Change offers a freedom to create new meaning
and symbols to seek new and more satisfying personal
relationships, to experiment with patterns of
behaviour we choose ourselves.”
36. P21 “Change offers the hope of freedom”.
37. We cannot define freedom in a social system.
38. While I agree with the thrust of this slogan, it
is important to focus on the notion that positive
inventions CREATE more options to be part of society,
where our skills, ideas and our UNIQUE creative edge
gives us social credit & reward.
39. P22 “I believe that there are real limits to the
extent that we can take responsibility for directing
our lives and that, further, within these limits, the
exercise of responsibility is a difficult thing to
attempt and, for most of us, a scary thing.”
40. P22 “Freedom lies in facing the future, fully
conscious of our limitations but stubbornly prepared
to use the leverage we have to force the future to
yield us the fulfilment of our deepest needs.”
41. These are empty words.
42. P25 “… we accumulate symbols of security – bigger
balances, more lavish houses, longer cars.”
43. More is not ‘better’.
44. P27 “The vast changes of modern life seem to have
passed by the bulk of our schools which are still
geared to produce a majority of unquestioning workers
fit to tend machines without asking why. All
predictions for the future point to the need for
educating for a new man, ready to experiment, to
question, and to assume responsibility.”
45. Responsibility comes with power. Many workers have
no power and thus cannot exercise their mind to create
ideas of social utility. We have forced students to
sign ‘contracts’ where responsibility is IMPOSED on
students, without a proper set of rights.
46. His sexist past is clear from this passage (and
through the book).
47. P27 “The key man of the future will not be a
specialist but a creative generalist who can implement
change in human systems.”
48. P27 “Our schools are still trying to produce
conformists, with knowledge stuffed brains; the result
is children who are ethical morons in terms of the
central issues of the modern world.”
49. Agreed! Dod does not offer options that are
‘better’.
50. P28 “Religion in Australia has generally provided
a ghetto refuge from the modern world …”
51. Religion over all of human history seems to have
done the same. But, religion has also served a crucial
function (positive) in bringing hope and relief from
personal pain. We need a new global religion that
unites us all under FAIR systems of governance. This
has been tried before e.g., United Nations. The system
of ‘rights’ lack tech teeth and is a mess.
52. Chapter 3 = “The World of Work”
53. P35 “Our notions of management stemmed originally
from the two large organizations which existed before
the industrial revolution – the army and the church.”
54. This still seems to be case; this is very true in
schools, where often ‘the’ church has control over the
management e.g., the Catholic Church in Oz.
55. We need to get the church OUT of schools – schools
are often bastions of dogma from the bowels of
history. In Oz we have not done so due to pollies
being cowered by small but nasty lobby groups, all
under the banner of ‘respect’ for cultural
differences. Students have no say in the rules;
students are NOT GIVEN RESPECT.
56. P39 “Increased productivity is most directly
affected by re-organizing work so that it becomes a
meaningful activity.”
57. We all have our unique strengths and weaknesses –
it is about time we better captured the comparative
strengths of people, and covered for the comparative
weaknesses of people in any organization.
58. P40 “… motivation to work can be dramatically
improved by re-organizing jobs on different
principles.”
59. Basically, these principles are some of the
principles of a democratic work place. It is hard to
keep people ‘motivated’ when managers at the top earn
huge incomes based on ‘market’ laws. Of course, the
workers know that the ‘market’ is strongly biased for
those who control the market mechanisms and means of
distribution i.e., many of the criticisms of Marx are
true today (this does NOT mean I agree with the
‘solutions’ proposed).
60. I propose a non-violent social evolution, rather
the revolution.
61. Chapter 4 = “Principalities and Powers”
62. P52 “We need an accounting which takes in human
[values] as well as economic values. We need an
economics of refuse and waste as well an economics of
goods.”
63. Accounting systems are a mess. We need accounting
systems that measure all pain and gain from an
economic activity, including the home. National
accounts are not comparable across countries (e.g.,
per capita income is nonsense). Further, large
sections of economic activity are not measured (e.g.,
from voluntary organizations such as rotary groups in
Oz).
64. My patent is a more complete real time system of
national accounts – this is crucial in the area of
policy design & evaluation.
65. Chapter 5 = “Designing Utopias”
66. P54 “We must decide what kind of society we want.”
67. We have the slogan of “have a go & fair go” in Oz.
68. To have a go means to be focused on getting the
job done. Fair go means to have a system of rules that
are fair – this is stated in most constitutions in one
form or another. The crucial issue is to define “FAIR”
in any given context – this is clear in, say, football
or basket ball i.e., both teams must follow the same
rules and the umpires must be unbiased. Of course,
umpires will make errors – if errors can be fixed,
then errors should be corrected as required.
69. Social systems are far more complex than any
sport, such as football. Many of the rules are not
stated and the legal systems are built on a history of
jargon that excludes most sane people. OUR LEGAL
SYSTEMS MUST BE MADE SIMPLE. This is a crucial
condition for social evolution – lawyers are a
disaster when it comes to clarity and precision e.g.,
see the draft EU constitution of 2005.
70. P55 “… there is a widespread lack of confidence in
the ability of our political parties to govern
effectively.” … “The problem shows up at all levels.”
71. This is a global problem today. Pollies do not
have unbiased or accurate information systems to guide
action. Further, pollies lack the management skills to
govern in a manner consistent with fair laws (even if
the laws were fair). People think that pollies are
greedy and self serving and pander to media gurus or
other powerful lobby groups.
72. In my view, greed & revenge have been the common
coinage that has built & sustained the systems of
governance and management we have inherited from
‘culture’. This culture or tradition is premised on
power structures that ensure the destruction of the
human species i.e., market systems are dominated
people who have a strong vested interest
‘conservatism’, such as John Coward = JC.
73. P55 “Our government processes were designed to be
relative, to slow down change, to preserve tradition.
The basis of the law used has been precedent, but of
what use is precedent in situations that are entirely
novel?”
74. “… we still have government at all levels marked
by a complacent “we know what is best for you”
attitude, one which assumes that the way to govern is
to react to events as they occur, to involve clumsy
procedures and to search for precedents.”
75. In a changing world there are no precedents. The
pollies do NOT ‘know’ – people may know how to get
power, but they do not know how to use power in a fair
way, because the process to get power relies on being
‘unfair’. Politics is a dirty business, and pollies
are the cream of the dirt process.
76. Sadly, this applies at all levels of governance,
around the world. It is rare that people with a real
sense of fair play & justice get to power; when they
do, they lack the support systems in terms of
information and people that can be trusted (e.g.,
Nelson Mandela in South Africa). I suppose this is one
lesson from history that holds true today and will be
true tomorrow, unless we fix our systems of
governance.
77. P57 “Our politicians should initiate and lead in a
debate on national goals. But most seem unwilling or
unable to confront larger social issues.” … “Our
politicians seem embarrassed to emit a flicker of
idealism [courage], to espouse a firm idea for the
future, to define a worthy role for the future.”
78. Well, I guess on this matter history is a very
good guide!
79. P57 “We must have long range planning by
governments. But we cannot do this effectively without
some utopian design for society of the future.”
80. This is the key statement in this book. I have a
rock solid “utopian design”. This is what I do.
81. P57 “People need meaning – a larger meaning that
can be summoned up by politicians flourishing balance
sheets.”
82. This is WHY I designed a new system of accounting
and real time info systems.
83. This is WHY I designed a new system of
accounting and real time info systems. Dod goes on to
give an outline of his "utopia". I thought it was
mostly fluff, without any operational value i.e., can
we do it?
84. P58 "The economy no longer consists of a
multitude of small firms involved in competition on an
open market. It is dominated by large corporations
whose managers have learned that it does not pay to
compete strongly on prices."
85. This was true in the 1970s and it is true
today.
86. P58 "The issue of economic justice is the
share in productivity gains to be received by
governments, shareholders, managers, employees and
consumers."
87. Economic justice IS justice. Further, it is
NOT just the gains in eco value from production of
goods and services that is at issue.
88. Economics, politics & sociology comes down
to answering three questions:
a. how big is the economic pie?
b. who gets what part of the pie?
c. how does a. & b. change over time?
89. This requires a forecasting model at a
global level. Further, we need a radical change in our
thinking on what is a FAIR share of the pie.
90. P60 "Education must prepare us for these
changes and help us to acquire new job skills."
91. Agreed!
92. P60 "The answer to this problem is a vastly
expanded and re-organized education and training
system."
93. Yes, but what would be the main elements in
this system? I have written how ALL education can be
built from scratch using a paper called literacy &
numeracy in business ethics.
94. P61 "At the moment, we have no clear future
goal offered to us by government. We fumble our way
into the future unaware, without confronting the vital
choices that will determine our lives and the future
of our children."
95. Some things never change?
____________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Movies: Check out the Latest Trailers, Premiere Photos and full Actor Database.
http://au.movies.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
SHE_Forum mailing list
SHE_Forum_at_mail.itk.ntnu.no
http://mail.itk.ntnu.no/mailman/listinfo/she_forum
Received on 20-10-05
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : 20-10-05 MEST