Last year we discussed a symbol for sociocracy, Symbol of Sociocracy? — a logo. The symbol that has often emerged in workshops is the tree or tree-like networks.
Well, we now have many more reasons to adopt the tree. A review on today’s New York Times of The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries From a Secret World by German forest ranger Peter Wohlleben explains how trees have social… Read More . . . “A Symbol for Sociocracy: The Tree”
In my neighborhood we have a large email list designed for neighbor to neighbor conversation and requests for help. A frequent request is a phone number for help with city services. The current problem is needing the city to enforce parking regulations when a life may be at risk because a driveway is blocked. The lack of response from city governments reveals structural issues that as in other bureaucracies will be hard to fix.
The… Read More . . . “Structural Issues in Government”
Gun Control and Sociocracy
A shocking opinion piece appeared in the New York Times today, Who the NRA Really Speaks For, by Alan Berlow who writes on gun control and death penalty issues for The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, New York Times Magazine, and other major publications. Perhaps you are better informed but I’m not a close reader of gun control laws and this piece set me back a bit.
Berlow explains how ineffective… Read More . . . “Who the NRA Really Speaks For”
In an excellent article in the 10 September 2015 issue of the Harvard Business Review Georges Romme analyzes the misconceptions in the press about Holacracy and about sociocracy, “The Big Misconceptions Holding Holacracy Back.” Romme has been centrally involved with Gerard Endenburg and sociocracy for decades. The following is a summary and commentary on Romme’s article, which I also encourage you to read.
A key management practices is concentrating leadership in top management and suppressing… Read More . . . “Misconceptions about Sociocracy”
The only way to stop elections by money, the spiral of overwhelming political campaign expenses, seems to be stopping political campaigns. We elect people to do the work of governance, not to prove themselves experts at printing signs, inventing slogans and soundbites, and speaking at campaign financing dinners. Campaigns are a major distraction from quality leadership. They are undemocratic and produce undemocratic governments. Political campaigns are about the rich. What the rich want, what the… Read More . . . “Elections by Money”
Crushing Middle-Class Prosperity
The American Dream is of obtaining middle-class prosperity and socio-economic mobility. Hedrick Smith analyzes how it was lost in America.
The American middle class in the 1960s was the largest and most prosperous in the world. Now, the disparity between top and bottom is huge. Even the wealthiest 5% are falling behind the super-rich 1% that controls 2/3 of the nation’s wealth—trillions of dollars. The remaining 99% earn the remaining 1/3. America… Read More . . . “Who Stole the American Dream”
Please Join the eMail Discussion Group
The sociocracy email discussion list was started in 2002. The list language is English, but members speak many languages if you have translation questions. We discuss anything related to sociocracy, democracy, and collaborative governance.
This site is a resource on sociocracy and democracy and the ways they support each other. It examines the principles and practices and the ways in which together they could better achieve their objectives. How would things get done in a sociocratic democracy?
Last year we discussed a symbol for sociocracy, Symbol of Sociocracy? — a logo. The symbol that has often emerged in workshops is the tree or tree-like networks.
Well, we now have many more reasons to adopt the tree. A review on today’s New York Times of The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries From a Secret World by German forest ranger Peter Wohlleben explains how trees have social… Read More . . . “A Symbol for Sociocracy: The Tree”
