CHINA, EASTERN PHILOSOPHIES, SYSTEMICS AND CYBERNETICS.
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IN THE 21st. CENTURY
An essay of political fiction?
by Ernesto Grün
Summary
If we consider the present decay of the so called American "empire" , the
phenomenon of globalization and the ecological problems of global warming, coupled with the emergence of a China, increasingly important in the world, and also from other countries of the Asian-Pacific area, for example India, it seems possible that these nations of the Far East, who mantainin some ways Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu or Taoists philosophies (even in “communist” China ), that have multiple contacts and similarities with the new paradigms of systemic and complexity sciences, are better prepared , mentally at least, to deal with ecological aspects (global warming) and the governance of humanity, in process of globalization, that the rulers of the United States and Europe still attached to the Newtonian and Cartesian mindsets Accordingly the new "empire" will perhaps be soon China, or a set of Far Eastern countries. So it can be thought that the weight of the governance of the world will move to the East, leaving , after centuries, the West ... And so, hopefully, would be achieved an adequate fusion between those remote philosophies and these modern methodologies and epistemologies for the benefit of mankind, and its peaceful and sustainable development.
But, could this paper be a mere political fiction?.
Keywords - Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Complexity, China, Governance
I. INTRODUCTION
When I started to prepare this paper, a few years ago,back in March 2008, I wrote that it "may perhaps be classified as political fiction”, but as has happened so frequently in recent times with science fiction it is not unlikely that in a more or less near future, this is what will really happen.
I think this could even happen quite quickly: In fact, the “American Empire" , the United States, could decline, and sooner or later,it will cease to be the only dominant nation in the world. [1]
In this sense says Roger Cohen, a leading columnist for the International Herald Tribune and New York Times, that the time of the West is ending”. Money and power are increasingly elsewhere. And, more over "China is determined to overcome the U.S. What can be felt in Asia, said Claude Smadja, a Featured Global strategist, is a “burst of energy, new dreams, and the end of the era of Western domination of the white man”. He concludes that “the pendulum is swinging back to these countries (China and India) at a rate that has not been expected in the West.” [2]
Well, it is not true that the West didn’t expect it: a few days , and in the same newspaper, I found the following comment “the axis of the world, with constancy is shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The rapid growth of China and India and the data about the quality of education in South East Asia moves the world toward a change that will affect deeply what it has been known for centuries about the future of the more than 6500 million men and women who inhabit the planet; and also in the lives of the beings to come [3]And finally Mario Diament writes in the newspaper” La Nación quoting Fareed Zakaria, author of “The postnorth-american World” that “In political-military terms the United States will continue to be a superpower, but in all the other dimensions, industrial, economic, educational, social and cultural, the distribution of power is shifting away from American dominance”and that “ we are in the middle of the third tectonic power shift in the last 500 years: the first was the rise of the West, around the fifteenth century, which produced the great, agricultural ,industrial and scientific revolution. Second was the emergence of the United States in the late nineteenth century, who once industrialized became the most powerful nation in the planet, and the third is what he calls “the rise of the rest”, with China and India converted into the dominant powers within their sphere and even outside it "[4]
Moreover a phenomenon of globalization is increasingly happening in its most varied aspects of economic, political and social life [5] and the emerging complexity of this situation requires an approach based on the theory of systems and the complexity sciences.
And finally, global warming requires, on the part of humanity and particularly their rulers, an ecological vision also provided to us by these science theories.
Now, all these problems require new paradigms for their solution. And the theory of systems and complexity sciences offer, in my opinion, such paradigms.
In this sense Fritjof Capra, one of the best informed in both the current systemic and ecological problems already noted, in his book "The Tao of Physics" and in many later works the relationship of the Oriental mystical philosophies and the modern scientific, epistemological and methodological approach represented by the systemic and complexity theories.
And what has this to do with the topic at hand?
Well it is just in that part of the world, China, India and other countries in Southeast Asia, where people still apply even in everyday life, in politics and in science, the ideas of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism ... And this will, in my view, have a profound effect on global governance if the dominant power transfers to this part of the world.
CAPRA'S IDEAS
In his "The Tao of Physics", he writes: " ... As a consequence of the Cartesian division, most individuals are aware of themselves as isolated egos existing ‘inside’ their bodies. The mind has been separated from the body and given the futile task of controlling it, thus causing an apparent con-flict between the conscious will and the involuntary instincts. Each individual has been split up further into a large number of separate compartments, according to his or her activities talents, feelings, beliefs, etc.which are engaged in endless conflicts generating continuous metaphysi cal confusion and frustration.
This inner fragmentation of man mirrors his view of the ‘outside world’ which is seen as a multitude of separate objects and events. The natural environment is treated as if it consisted of separate parts to be exploited by different interest groups. The fragmented view is further extended to society which is split into different nations, races, religious and political groups. The belief that all these fragments-in ourselves, in our environ- ment and in our society- are really separate can be seen as the essential reason for the present series of social, ecological and cultural crises.
It has alienated us from nature and from our fellow human beings. It has brought a grossly unjust distribution of natural resources creating economic and political disorder; an ever rising wave of violence, both spontaneous and institutionalized, and an ugly, polluted environment in which life has often become physically and mentally unhealthy.
The Cartesian division and the mechanistic world view have thus been beneficial and detrimental at the same time. They were extremely successful in the development of classical physics and technology, but had many adverse consequences for our civilization. It is fascinating to see that twentieth-century science, which originated in the Cartesian split and in the mechanistic world view, and which indeed only became possible because of such a view, now overcomes this fragmentation and leads back to the idea of unity expressed in the early Greek and Eastern philosophies. In contrast to the mechanistic Western view, the Eastern view of the world is ‘organic’. For the Eastern mystic, all things and events perceived by the senses are interrelated, connected, Tao of and are but different aspects or manifestations of the same ultimate reality.
Our tendency to divide the perceived world into individual and separate things and to experience ourselves as isolated egos in this world is seen as an illusion which comes from our measuring and categorizing mentality. It is called “avidya” or ignorance, in Buddhist philosophy and is seen as the state of a disturbed mind which has to be overcome: When the mind is disturbed, the multiplicity of things is produced, but when the mind is quieted, the multiplicity of things disappears.
Although the various schools of Eastern mysticism differ in many details, they all emphasize the basic unity of the universe which is the central feature of their teachings. The highest aim for their followers-whether they transcend the notion of an isolated individual self and to identify themselves with the ultimate reality. The emergence of this awareness-known as ‘enlightenmerit’-is not only an intellectual act but is an experience which involves the whole person and is religious in its ultimate nature.
For this reason, most Eastern philosophies are essentially religious philosophies In the Eastern view, then, the division of nature into separate objects is not fundamental and any such objects have a fluid and ever-changing character.
The Eastern world view is therefore intrinsically dynamic and contains time and change as essential features. The cosmos is seen as one inseparable reality-for ever in motion, alive, organic; spiritual and material at the same time.”[6]
In other of his works he [7] indicates that taoism “offers the most profound and beautiful expressions of ecological wisdom, emphasizing both the fundamental oneness of all phenomena and the inclusion of all individuals and companies in cyclical processes of nature ".
With regard to Buddhism he states that "Buddhism has shown throughout its history that it is capable to adapt to different cultural situations "Much later in his book states that " As the Eastern mysticism interest only a minority of Western society in India is the cultural mainstream " [8]
GOVERNANCE, ECOLOGY, GLOBALIZATION
I have argued in another paper [9], that the modern sciences of complexity, and a systemic-cibernetic focus can help improve both government , and governance. What we learned from the perspective of systems theory or cybernetics regarding government or governance of other systems, (be they biological, economic or social), can be extremely useful when trying to improve the performance of existing national states
The more complex the system, the more complex the issue of governance, which is an application of Ashby's Law [10]. And the complexity of the current state is precisely the problem in need of better governance. This can be clearly seen in any intent to establish a world government which would obviously be far more complex than even the most developed current national states.
There can be no effective governance of human systems and particularly in the governance system of a state, without systemic knowledge (i.e knowledge of the same as a system related to other systems) and cybernetic knowledge (i.e the interrelationships, feedback, flows.etc. within the state and with other systems).
Governance, says Germán Silva Burgos[11] analyst at the International Institute for Governance and Professor at the National University of Colombia, is a holistic and comprehensive concept. This is the reason why this concept is difficult to managea in bureaucratic structures which are organized by sectors and functions without a comprehensive and holistic view , nor fit into theories and approaches based on reductionist actions (eg. purely technical, economic, social, cultural, political or administrative views). It requires the ability to maintain an acceptable level of social integration of the group and the ability to adapt to internal and external changes
Now, as we have seen, Eastern philosophies, especially Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism offer a way of thinkind with many affinities with the systemic-cybernetic outlook.
As Lesley Prince, from the University of Birmigham says : “Oriental tradition of Taoism treats leadership, more specifically the use of power, as a fluid set of interrelationships coordinated with a natural order as it is, emphasizing coordination, location and connection in environmental contexts , rather than modifying the environment in accordance with some intellectual view of how it would be preferable. While, for the West leadership is about active control and training, for Taoism it is rather about commitment, understanding and coordination "[12].
It has also been noted that in considering the problems of government for a sustainable development, it is appropriate to consider the fundamental differences in attitude towards action in West over East. The action in the West can be characterized in terms of achievement of a goal, progress from A to B. In the East, the action has an important cyclical component.
Moreover, since sustainable development must necessarily incorporate cyclical characteristics it is appropriate to examine the traditional guidelines that should incorporate government. One such guide is the "I Ching" which has been a major influence in Chinese thought for 3000 years, providing a common source for the Confucian and Taoist philosophy. The "I Ching" has served as a master guide in China of how to govern a country. It has been carefully studied by philosophers as Confucius as well as by Mao Tse-Tung. In the same paper Sun Zu [13] is quoted in the 394 precepts contained in his classic "The Art of War" are considered relevant, not only for modern military academies, but also in corporate strategies and it draws attention that they have encouraged our Russell Ackoff, professor of Systems Science to produce his own set of "fables" [14], many of which are highly relevant to the problems of government [15].
Moreover, Eastern thought, as also noted by Capra, offers beautiful and deep expressions of ecological wisdom. For Taoism unity between man and nature is the basic teaching. This has undoubtedly a relationship with and a possible effect on the acute problem of the so called " global warming”.
And as for globalization Taoism and Buddhism from the sixth century BC. on, obviously understood the multiple interrelationships on the planet in their various manifestations. The same theme is not strange to globalization, Taoism preached 'One in All', 'All in One'. It is a holistic conception of life Westerners have understood only recently [16].
Unlike the West which has been dominated by Judeo-Christian ideas contained in the Bible where in , in his first book, Genesis, it says: