CONSENSUS

the future of democracy seems to be in consensus.  this adversarial bipolar american two-party system is not efficient and never produces the kind of unanimity that is needed for real change and real concerted action, which is what the world desperately needs at this point in time, considering the advanced degradation of our host planet.

toward this end ive been reading a book lately called honeybee democracy which illustrates in some detail how group decisions are taken by another species and how efficient it is and how very often it produces the right decision and how at the end of the debating process there is a tremendous unanimity, to the degree that ten thousand members of a swarm will all go to the same place at the same time, thereby insuring them a chance at success and continued life through the winter.

the main difference as i see it between the honeybee and the human is that basically all the honeybees in the swarm are workers, with the exception of one queen who doesnt vote, and they all have approximately the same interest in finding a new home.  conditions within the swarm are more or less egalitarian whereas in human society it seems to be fractured into many parts.  the rich tend not to identify with the underprivileged, the underprivileged often resent the wealthy — with cause — and there is a general exploitation between groups within the overall population which simply does not exist in the honeybee population.  so the problem remains that human beings do not seem to think speak or identify with the whole of the human fraternity, the whole of the society, they tend to superidentify with what they consider their group, a group of people in similar situation and likeminded in terms of their belief systems, which are often really capricious and not based in any kind of evidence, but belief systems really based in historical accident, personality types — which are genetically influenced — and anecdotal experience.  what this betrays is a general lack of empathy within humanity for the whole of humanity.

the overarching and singularly important lesson we can beg humbly our fellow man consider in light of our increasing understanding of the natural world around us, this time thanks to the students of the honeybee, is this need to identify with all the humans of the planet, as a first important step on the road to survival.