Two Ecologies

After spending a lot of time on the 'net (too much) I have come to some conclusions about the recent election. I was discussing those conclusions with the blog master at this blog post.

It turns out that each side of the two main opposing groups in the last election is sure the other side is unrepentantly evil. And in fact that is correct. They are.

How is it possible that both of them are correct? Well each side is correct because they live in different environments. And the different ecologies require different moralities. The rules for success are different. I explained that in A Thermodynamic Explanation Of Politics. You should read the longer article linked there to get a deeper feel for the thermodynamics of each ecology and its associated culture.

A short hand explanation that most Americans will get is City vs Country. In recent election terms we had Hillary Clinton who won the City folk and Donald Trump who won the Country folk. It becomes obvious in this map.

The morality difference is highlighted when you hear City folk disparage Country folk. "Rubes" (the current version of rubes is deplorables) is what City people call Country people. And when the shoe is on the other foot, the Country folk call City people "liars and crooks". Does that sound like an election you just experienced? It should.

What happened on 8 Nov. was that Country folk won. In time City folk will win again. Each side believes it is correct about everything. And they are right. For their ecological niche. Where we get it wrong is in thinking one set of laws can cover both niches. It is not possible. We should be thinking about how to handle this. Instead each side is sure the other side is totally demonic and should be punished accordingly.

Country is conservative. City is liberal. It is a fact of nature. We should take a more knowledgeable view of the situation and get over it. If we had sense enough to leave each other alone we would all be better off. "Mind your business" used to be a motto printed on our money. I'd like to see a revival of that with one minor modification. "Mind your own business."

I came up with this idea while talking to the OL about this article.

The City is a structured environment, the people are wild.

The Country is a wild environment, the people are structured.

Evidently nature requires a minimum amount of chaos to function properly. We see that in electronics. You can make some circuits more accurate adding a little noise. The noise helps prevent the circuit from getting stuck at a close but not as exact as possible value. But you have to "tune" the noise. Too little noise and there is no effect. Too much noise and the results get too noisy.

Now let us get back to politics. Why hasn't this understanding gotten more attention so we can better optimize our political systems? Divide and rule. With Country and City at each others throats ('they are a direct threat to my way of life' - "they" of course being the "other" side). While that little (as in full time giant) war is going on our owners can focus on using government for their own ends.

Here is a guy who agrees with my premise.

...the left versus right dynamic is being instigated by global elites, and that this could result in both sides moving to opposing extremes of the political spectrum; communism versus fascism. That said, they also wanted to know what I thought should be done about the left in particular? Sure, the elites are the root cause of the threat, but what about all the crazed leftists the elites hide behind and exploit? Don’t we have to deal with them at some point as well?

I'm against dealing with them in the ordinary sense. We should try to figure a way to acknowledge our different ecologies and form a solution based on that. The author has some ideas. (Emphasis added)

The danger is that while conservatives now appear to hold the keys to the behemoth that is government after wrestling it from the left (again, at least in appearance), we will be tempted to swing the cannons of the bureaucratic battleship towards our foes and in our favor. I’ll have to use the old Lord of the Rings analogy once again here — big government is like the “one ring;” it will always result in evil, no matter who is wearing it. Good people will take hold of it thinking they can resist abusing it and that they will exploit its incredible power to help others; and they will fall into darkness like everyone else.

The solution? Conservatives must face leftist extremists on equal ground. We must avoid the temptation of using government as a weapon to extinguish them. We must avoid stooping to their level. Otherwise, there is an serious risk that we will falter in our principles and become just as bad if not worse than the regressive left. And yes, this means a decentralized civil war — a war in which government is denied as a player.

As long as conservatives refuse to wield government as a sword in our arsenal, we will win against all enemies.

The second we wimp out and beg government to aid us in our fight, we will be co-opted and assimilated by the elites.

My god. Do you see what he is saying? He is advocating some kind of libertarian solution. Stop government growth? Who ever heard of such a thing? Limited government? Isn't that some kind of blasphemy? Doesn't government need control? More control? Unlimited control to keep order? I don't think so. Too much control promotes disorder by making government unadaptable. And that leads to chaos. Too much chaos.

Also note: I have been saying for years that if Republicans stuck to economics and gave up their war on Democrats (the culture war) they couldn't lose. The benefits of a prosperous economically sound country would be a boon enjoyed by all. Winning a culture war battle only satisfies half the country.

The abortion war is a prime example of how the Republicans should work to achieve a goal. The abortion rate has been cut by a factor of four over the years and it is still declining. It has gotten to the point where a vast majority of the country opposes abortion. And it shows up in the abortion rate. It should also be noted that despite wide spread personal objections to abortion, over half the country wants abortion to remain legal. But of course that tends to vary by State and population density. What should be done? Keep talking. And keep government out of it. In fact that ought to be a general rule.

Keep government out of it.
Probably a rule for all ages. Our founders generally thought so.