"America, historically the society that has done best at accommodating to evolutionary decontrol dynamics, is currently awash in its own decontrol challenges. They are distorting all three major realms of our society: civil society, government, and the market economy. Here are three that trouble me these days:
Much of capitalism has entered a so-called “late capitalism” phase that justifies predatory profiteering, market rigging, and sector meddling in ways that diminish and distort not only our market system but also our political and civil-society systems. This “late capitalism,” unlike past “democratic capitalism,” is very control-oriented and is subverting how all four TIMN forms and their realms are performing in our society.
If Donald Trump regains the presidency, he intends to dismantle the “administrative state,” initially by firing myriad civil-service staff and then downsizing and replacing it with sworn loyalists, cronies, and fellow-travelers. While a case can be made for smaller government, Trump’s plan spells an unbridled reversion to tribal practices — an ancient method of control — in order to de-professionalize, suborn, and corrupt our political institutions for personalistic purposes.
America’s next major evolutionary decontrol challenge lies ahead: For several decades, the emergence of the information-age network form has unsettled nearly everything. One way or another, its rise lies behind all the social, political, cultural, and religious conflicts that have rent our society in recent decades. But while +N’s rise is affecting how the earlier three TIMN forms are being used, it is unclear what next-new realm of specialized actors and activities may ultimately coalesce around +N to create a fourth realm of society. More about that later. For the moment, I only want to note that our society is headed toward a new evolutionary transition because of the rise of the information-age network form. The outcome will depend on whether its own phase of decontrol dynamics unfolds properly, and on how long-entrenched political and business elites fight its unfolding.
Thus I mean to point out not only the overlooked yet pivotal role of decontrol in major evolutionary transitions from simpler to more complex societies. I also want to decry, again for evolutionary reasons, the stifling adversity wrought by autocratic government leaders around our troubled world who persistently think and act strictly in control terms, mostly for fear of losing control. "
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