Peace and inequality

Computer-aided Visualization of Psycho-social Structures (Part #13)

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The parallel between the natural and the psycho-social ecology is, of course, debatable, but even if accepted with reservations, it raises the difficulty of the status and function of violence. In a natural environment destructive violence is a necessary feature of inter-specific relationships, and non-destructive conflict is a necessary feature of intra-specific territorial behaviour. It goes against all our value systems to suggest that destructive violence is a natural feature of the psycho-social environment, despite an almost incredible amount of evidence to the contrary.

The argument is that man, as part of the natural environment, is the only animal to engage in systematic destruction of its own kind -- and therefore that this is not natural and, in a peaceful world, should cease. It is possible however that a clearer insight into psycho-social relationships mill eventually highlight a different picture.

Through progressive alienation from the natural environment, man may have redefined and substituted his psycho-social environment as a new kind of natural environment. This environment, as so defined, is perceived as populated by not one but many psycho-social species -- possibly to provide and canalize the dynamics of the system. This suggestion of a multiplicity of different species of psycho- social man also goes completely against all our value systems. "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". Again there is an incredible amount of evidence that the concept of equality is not about to be considered of great moment. "The hierarchy of industrial roles distributes authority between our mould-be equal selves at least as unequally, and sometimes less acceptably, than did the status structure of traditional society.... me are almost wholly ignorant of human variation, whether biological, psychological, or cultural, and our entrenched misconceptions of equality prevent us from using even such knowledge as we have. We are seeing only the first stirrings of that respect for human difference on which an adequate concept of equality may some day be based." [8]

Suppose however that, as a more complex model of the situation, people are equal in terms of potentiality (and, ideally, before the law) but unequal in terms of actuality. And furthermore, that the probability of realizing the full potential decreases with age and the difference between individuals incseases with age. (To avoid misinterpretation, it is important to understand that the equality and inequality refers to psycho-social features which are considered to be totally independent of any superficial racial characteristics.) It might then be possible to speak of a multiplicity of species, although it is not yet clear how species might be defined. Perhaps as a very first approximation to establish probable species differences between two roles, [37] some measure of the "non-fruitfulness" of any verbal (or other non-sexual) intercourse between them couldbe used.

Once verbal intercourse is non-fruitful, inter-specific interaction is possible in eight modes: neutralism, competition, mutualism, protocooperation, commensalism, amensalism, parasitism and predation.[38] Some of these may take the form of destructive violence which is justifiable in terms of the dynamics of the system of which both parties are members.

The top-dog/under-dog dominance relationship in social systems [39] could seem to be another form, cutting across some of the above modes. The pattern of all modes splits the community of species into levels equivalent to the trophic levels and food chains in natural eco-systems. The number of successive steps in a food chain is small being restricted by the ecological efficiency of the process of energy transfer between each step and by questions of metabolic rate and body size.

A focus on the specific objective of eliminating violence may be rather similar in feasibility and value to the attempt to eliminate violence from a natural eco-system such as a fish pond, a tropical jungle or game covered tropical grasslands. The only hope of achieving this is to place each animal in a cage. This eliminates the physical violence by substituting a form of structural violence. Unless a synthetic food supply is found, one is committed to undertaking the physical violence as zoo keeper or else the animals will die or revolt. Maximizing law and order does not eliminate violence, it simply relocates it in another part of the system.

It would be interesting to compare energy chains in psycho-social systems against food chains in natural systems and see whether similar relationships hold as is suggested by R. Margalef.[37] He suggests that it is possible to measure the "maturity" of an eco-system as closely related in one respect to its diversity or complexity and in another to the amount of information that can be maintained with a definite spending of potential energy. A highly diversified community has the capacity for carrying a high amount of organizations or information and requires relatively less energy to maintain it. Of particular significance for approaches to "peace", is that the necessay energy to disrupt an eco-system is related to 'its maturity -- anything that keeps an eco-system oscillating (or "spastic"), retains it in a state of low maturity. (It would be interesting to compare the crime rate with a measure of psycho-social system diversity.)

Dominance in social systems provides a situation with a tremendous potential for structural violence. [39] But dominance and diversity in natural systems form an area of complex and often obscure relationships not subject to neat, unitary formulations. [40]

A possible relationship to maturity is suggested by the hypothesis that local species diversity is directly related to the efficiency with which predators prevent the monopolization of the major environmental requisites by one species. In testing this, removal of the top carnivore reduced system diversity from 15 to 8 species. [41]

The problem in applying these insights to psycho-social systems is that top-dogs and selective violence may help to maintain the maturity of the system and increase the efficiency of utilization of resources.

This raises the question of what in Geological terms should bo maximized in psycho-social systems in order to approach the conditions represented by "peace". At this stage, too little is known about the energetics of such systems for useful decisions to be taken - plus the fact that change decisions are within-system mutations of specific entities which must then function in relation to the ecosystemic community of species. As such they cannot completely control the system.

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