Dimensions of Value: Influence, Power and Status
In a previous post, I mentioned how our world view - especially our perceived system of values - comes into our politics. At the same time, political players tend to misrepresent their own value system and the value system of their opponents to gain power. Power itself is a value worth looking into. In fact, "political" power seems to show up in all the "social great apes" and many other species. My aim here is simply to visualize this dimension - to come up with a visual metaphor that helps us think of this type of value. There are many values similar to "political power". I chose to talk about "influence" as a representative of this class of values. These networks are essential to understanding one of the themes of this entire blog: the superorganism. Networks of value play a role similar to the nervous system of the individuals who make up these organisms. They account for "why" these organisms value what they value and do what they do. They explain the "nuts and bolts" of how individuals are "programmed" by the superorganism.
Social networks transmit all kinds of social things, including "influence", "political power" and "debt".
As already noted, debt is the shadow of "money", but this is a rather abstract idea that we can conveniently ignore. In practice, each of us in debt to identifiable entities, such as the government, the bank, and persons such as our society, our mentors and political patrons. Much of our behavior is governed by perceived obligation, even if we pretend to ourselves that we act freely.
In "Thieves of State", Sarah Chayes provides a detailed description of the architecture of one particular well developed "kleptocracies" - Afghanistan. This networked structure is composed of two-way relationships between the "boss" and the "client". Money (bribes etc.) flow "up" to the boss and perks, protection and status flow down. The link is usually established by the "client" paying for the position in the first place. Sarah's analysis is particularly helpful in revealing how the corruption of the entire "government" structure works. It is, in effect, a criminal conspiracy that has captured the government. It is extremely durable since it comes to be an accepted aspect of the culture itself.
As Chayes points out, there are different structures in different countries, all lying on a spectrum of "corruption" - from outright capture of the economy by organized crime (Russia) to "white glove" capture of the economy by the rich, where political power and wealth are assumed to be interchangeable.
Networks of influence effectively control governments (including ours) where "corruption" is technically illegal.
Individual voters imagine that their "influence" flows to their representative in the form of their vote. In fact, such influence is openly sold to large campaign donors. "Fundraising" actually takes up the lion's share of the time available to elected officials. One of the key ideas of "socialism" is that each individual citizen should have an equal influence on the decisions of the government. This is specifically denied by the capitalist system, which is effective "one dollar, one vote". Capitalist politicians, such as Republicans in the USA, devote their energies to voter suppression - specifically standing against "equal representation" - "equal influence". They also vigorously defend mechanisms that maximize the influence of individuals and organizations with "deep pockets" (PACKS). We should note that the purpose of a PACK is to reverse the flow of influence - to influence the voter in favor of the PACK's agenda.
A whole library of books could be written on this subject. For the moment, I'd just like to point this out as one of the "dimensions of value" that matter in a fundamental way. Dimensions like "money" obviously play a role, but political power itself is a key value, most obviously to politicians but also to those who feel they are being left out - those who can be convinced to vote against their own interest in the name of some populist rhetoric. The dynamic "works" for the politician, but seldom for the disenfranchised voter. "Money talks". The rules of the game are set by those currently in power, resulting in a system as resilient to change as that in Afghanistan.
In political networks, loyalty functions more or less the same way it does in the Afghan-type kleptocracy. Individual representatives commit political suicide if they don't support the party agenda. In turn, the party provides financial help to get the representative re-elected. Loyalty networks function to draw the compliant politician closer and closer to the center of power while banishing anyone who shows a hint of disloyalty to the political wilderness. Newly elected politicians are "shown the ropes" by senior experts at the game, resulting in powerful loyalty networks between mentor and student.
Before leaving aside this topic for the moment, I should mention how "money" is only a value in itself when it buys the basics of life (food, shelter, security). Beyond that, money is a symbol of status and valued membership in a group. Status and membership are values on their own. Beyond "minimum wage", money buys status. A with all the great social apes, status figures into every minute of every day. It is the key to obtaining access to other values, such as mates, medical care, education, information and, of course, power. They also allow the individual to obtain shiny things like gold, jewels, and fancy cars, whose main function is to signal social status, even if this status is empty and devoid of actual influence or power - "status in the mirror".
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| From "Connected: The Surprising Power of our Social Networks .." Page 289 |
As already noted, debt is the shadow of "money", but this is a rather abstract idea that we can conveniently ignore. In practice, each of us in debt to identifiable entities, such as the government, the bank, and persons such as our society, our mentors and political patrons. Much of our behavior is governed by perceived obligation, even if we pretend to ourselves that we act freely.
In "Thieves of State", Sarah Chayes provides a detailed description of the architecture of one particular well developed "kleptocracies" - Afghanistan. This networked structure is composed of two-way relationships between the "boss" and the "client". Money (bribes etc.) flow "up" to the boss and perks, protection and status flow down. The link is usually established by the "client" paying for the position in the first place. Sarah's analysis is particularly helpful in revealing how the corruption of the entire "government" structure works. It is, in effect, a criminal conspiracy that has captured the government. It is extremely durable since it comes to be an accepted aspect of the culture itself.
As Chayes points out, there are different structures in different countries, all lying on a spectrum of "corruption" - from outright capture of the economy by organized crime (Russia) to "white glove" capture of the economy by the rich, where political power and wealth are assumed to be interchangeable.
Networks of influence effectively control governments (including ours) where "corruption" is technically illegal.
Individual voters imagine that their "influence" flows to their representative in the form of their vote. In fact, such influence is openly sold to large campaign donors. "Fundraising" actually takes up the lion's share of the time available to elected officials. One of the key ideas of "socialism" is that each individual citizen should have an equal influence on the decisions of the government. This is specifically denied by the capitalist system, which is effective "one dollar, one vote". Capitalist politicians, such as Republicans in the USA, devote their energies to voter suppression - specifically standing against "equal representation" - "equal influence". They also vigorously defend mechanisms that maximize the influence of individuals and organizations with "deep pockets" (PACKS). We should note that the purpose of a PACK is to reverse the flow of influence - to influence the voter in favor of the PACK's agenda.
A whole library of books could be written on this subject. For the moment, I'd just like to point this out as one of the "dimensions of value" that matter in a fundamental way. Dimensions like "money" obviously play a role, but political power itself is a key value, most obviously to politicians but also to those who feel they are being left out - those who can be convinced to vote against their own interest in the name of some populist rhetoric. The dynamic "works" for the politician, but seldom for the disenfranchised voter. "Money talks". The rules of the game are set by those currently in power, resulting in a system as resilient to change as that in Afghanistan.
In political networks, loyalty functions more or less the same way it does in the Afghan-type kleptocracy. Individual representatives commit political suicide if they don't support the party agenda. In turn, the party provides financial help to get the representative re-elected. Loyalty networks function to draw the compliant politician closer and closer to the center of power while banishing anyone who shows a hint of disloyalty to the political wilderness. Newly elected politicians are "shown the ropes" by senior experts at the game, resulting in powerful loyalty networks between mentor and student.
Before leaving aside this topic for the moment, I should mention how "money" is only a value in itself when it buys the basics of life (food, shelter, security). Beyond that, money is a symbol of status and valued membership in a group. Status and membership are values on their own. Beyond "minimum wage", money buys status. A with all the great social apes, status figures into every minute of every day. It is the key to obtaining access to other values, such as mates, medical care, education, information and, of course, power. They also allow the individual to obtain shiny things like gold, jewels, and fancy cars, whose main function is to signal social status, even if this status is empty and devoid of actual influence or power - "status in the mirror".
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