Popular Economics Democracy
Basic Olicognograph: Citizens' Political Judgement
Stop Incomplete Infinite Perfect Algebra in Finite Complex Units
As usual, with such kind of concept, we will not give you a definition of democracy. First because they are different. Second because behaving democratically is, in essence, more important than to known if your society have reached some kind of specific democratic definition that could please mimicry and the nations proud to qualify themselves so. Third because this abstract definition would be an umbrella concept, an abstract tautology, where the roads to it are highly complex. Such goal is well important too but hard to define. Now, think that with in mind a formal diversity of properties on how to be together: being equals (pure democracy), mathematical relation of order - normed distance - non linear relation - metric distance - linear relations and all these relations should be present in a healthy society at diverse degrees, scaled and bound together with democratic tights and processes, all with complex definitions theoretical and practical, so what you could expect from us on democracy may be your nightmare. Broadly speaking: stop to think that just an abstract definition boldly supported by cultural social paradigms makes the good perfect trickle-down (filthy) illumination, needed to change any society out of the core of world system. Democracy is needed ... well ... of course, how ? - is your lucky mess.
Olicognography’s driving ideas on formal issues can be the following:
- Purpose is to care for complexities and related effects: confusions, paradoxes and so on [critical states, critical maintenance, bifurcations, overlaps are usual, not all have to disappear from the sight of any determinist - but pieces of determinism there should be. Also natural complexities are not like often thoughts' complexities: a weird melting-pot. For being consistent you need to show both: enough capacity to focus on logical things, manageability of second order and higher levels logics and some suggestive understanding of 'remaining' complexities];
- Use philosophic systems structuralism-wise (of common humanity), consensus, cultural systems, and functional translations. [In the same way you must show formal flexibility if essential values can be, by the way, cared better. Flexibility like common people showing instability in their respect of the rules of games that seem not to serve their interests. That may be because they do not master them enough or because they are right. But, indeed essential values and respect of rules should not be missed in any human processes];
- Prospect local legitimate democracy while still qualitative, to respect criteria of diversity, compactness, density (or connectedness), proximity. [Not so easy but because there is probably there to have a consistent level of scale of complexity, that can be somehow wholistical - enough properly covering -. Now, of course, some large scale for more specific and wider phenomena are also to be covered, but may be not with determinist illusions];
- Quantification should be organized to stay somehow calculable under compactness and despite diversity. [This have been often been mentioned how in these introductory texts];
- A general easiest algebra, should not be primary because too reductive; network algebra could be better. [There are many sorts of discrete algebra that can support such processes, reflect properties commonly used in social relations and may be also used in cognitive and brain processes, more than taught formalism. Now that does not mean that the previous form of perfect, infinitely smooth asymptotic, unambiguous continuity real number algebra should just be dropped definitively. It is useful in many engineering applications and probably very important are partial algebra and limited arithmetic are shaped from micro to macroscale into to perfect, to make amounts well modelled by theory of numbers];
- Complex combinations of formal quantified behaviors: probabilistic, determinism, chaotic, fractal, etc. could be part of many simulations. [For democratic purpose the problem is that they have not yet been enough suggestively explained since the first classes of primary school, especially for the uncertainty contributors. As a results in many common evidences of reality we are still vainly arguing with other esoteric determinisms];
- Properties of special algebra are to explore in these models as equilibriums, maintained criticities, oppositions, symmetries and so on. [There is formally plenty of space for agreements as well as for some processes of simplification. Especially considering different levels of scale, like similarities, cooperative combinations, reversal, bifurcations and so on, often applied, but in a tough way];
- If ethics and moral are not defined here it is because they are seen economically very consistent with social life, and should be positioned as criteria anywhere in proposed frames [and because their definitions as humane specific issues are highly complex, meanwhile philosophic literature is abundant at the respect, but within frames that are logical 'by the book' and the demonstrations so which transcription into reality is not so easy and may be weaker than intuitive processes; which also exist in any humane community, sustainable religions, national constitutions ...];
- Care economics with reasonable materialistic roots; that is in physics’ World [if this can limit the social abuses of ideologies, religions theoretical abstractions forcing their will on people. Strength and sense of sacrifice is, sometimes, needed but first individually and willingly freely committed. Also spirituality is important in objective cares of environment together with a sense of overall unity];
- That does not mean that mathematicians, engineers should dictate or that managers should behave non humanely [meanwhile social scientists have something better to do than determinism try to interest and convince the first ones as well as made their studies in a free way, meanwhile doing their social duties with the broader sense of social utility than the one of their 'private' discipline];
- Formal decisions concerning sorts of social algebra are to discuss and social formal operations are responsibilities to be accepted. [May be to suggest by side of simple known operations: addition, subtraction, division, multiplication] to have more complex ones, standardized as in many exact sciences (often called operators, functors and so on) and democratic but revisable and plastic ones, as rules of games: for being played according fairness, but also adaptable];
- On the qualitative side many resources using standard frames, modularity and analogies have potential quantification requiring to be locally consistent (effectively operated). [Think that innovation, flexibility, adaptation, change, disequilibria exist normally; analogy is a way to emerge them as concepts; demonstrations rigorous reframing are necessary, but not only coming always first in always the same way as reductionism disposes and an abundance of rethoretic without balance in quantities and synthesis];
- Qualitative design of frames and derived programs should be made collectively or democratically and if global quantification is not to avoid this should be agreed and open to regular reviews and changes;
- From consensual mainframe, anyone may have a partial perspective a piece with which they can model, possibly extend their own sub-model if respecting some higher systemic constraints respect and criteria.
Social Accounting Train and Reflect in Systems of Information
So, in formal sciences (mainly framed by mathematics and logic) it is increasingly important to bear in mind that:
- Methods have to diffuse more widely and reach faster practical applications meanwhile we need to be more socially and environmentally rigorous, in the selection and management of applications. In our opinion, much present diffusion is scientifically wrong and humanely abusive.
- Mathematicians whom turn to philosophy, more than philosophers trying to quantify), could be better employed in technical, complicated issues, they should be allowed to criticize more often formal abuses made by most specialists. Alas these mathematicians often prefer to stay lonesome specialist of a pure stuff. Philosophers by office, eventually talented in formal technicalities are often too short on limits, restrictions and conditions of application of methods, and just with social anecdotical extrapolations. [Critics does not necessarily imply less use of specialists, even in social sciences, but much more support from them to engineering processes in democratic consensus shaping].
- More flexibility is needed in the differentiated uses of formal methods and better understanding of rigid mathematics: good in solid physics or perfect gases, more complicated in most natural phenomena. [In other words, less idealization of numbers and more and better flexible uses].
- Promotion of formal methods has to be more pedagogic, because formal sciences are what we have to proceed correctly. Even if we cannot make the arts of their management an ideal reality. We have so to care too this 'imperfection', with more understanding of methodological precautions. Formal methods have a lot of enlightening concepts, including on complexity, not to confuse with just the inputs of meaningless numbers, so as to see indeterminably driven environments in a more modest way, and to expose clearly the limits of formal methods in explaining our miserable nature, these limits are useful.
- For example, the difficulties of institutes of social and economic prevision with predictions. About enlightening concepts, you will have noticed in past decades the popular emergence of concepts like incommensurable, complexity, incalculable problems, or not mathematically enunciable problems. [Either you would have heard rumors about realism, approximations, heterogeneity, diversity, noise, errors or residuals, catastrophe, nonlinearity or bifurcations, etc.].
- Perhaps local formulations could be better prepared with olicognographs. They are primarily qualitative but can help in quantification, like for analyzing properly collections of data and structures before calling the specialist for help. Statisticians are too often called when questionnaires of poor quality have already been collected, data have already been biased, and minds already been fixed by subjectiveness. The methodologists are invited just for cooking and dressing numbers, not for putting in evidence. These kind of dedications are wrong bad role quantitative methods professional and should be prevented. They are often the hidden part of abuses of democracies and are even not scientific. Otherwise there is anyhow a need to make philosophy with symbolic topological ideographs.
So to prepare minds through olicognography or ideography may prevent dogmatism, if preserved from psycho-rigidity and from some basic mistakes in the display of formal methods of quantification. Philosophically, it can help with friendly and positive perspectives on formal methods, and show the importance of making quantification an instrument for everyone but not for everything. Now, it is also at the reverse to tame qualitative hyperinflation with quantification, since this hyperinflation is often counterproductive and inconsistent. Olicognography helps to choose methods according to complex problems. Finally, because the dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative methods in mathematics has now much less sense; for accounting categories we may have to mind continuum and when discrete, imagine convergence or concentration of scale. Moreover there could be level of aggregation of opportunities.
For example, we imagined in our estimates of costs of social infrastructure optimal levels of management of concept like: - individual (essential objective complexity) - family (core of interest: 4 - 6 members) - village (cover of complexity and scale of complex understanding (some 500 persons) - major quantities varying with their supportive ecosystems, say like concerning 4-5 villages (2000-2500 persons) or such urban borough. Levels of urbanity could be set when no empirical value at hand objective values like - 5000 persons for citizenship emergence - 50000 persons for a region of fair trade and 500000 or more for a metropolis or a regional network of urban centers. Natural correspondencies as we have explored could be: 125 residences for a village or borough; each private home could observe 50 - 150m2. A standard collective building would be set at 7500m2.
Landmark values used for setting public interest concern. Thereafter to center distribution with these values and transfer of side with excess to side with deficit, meanwhile searching at central value all facilities of economies of scale. So when we have to calculate an average since a cost or assignation per capita and an assigned level of social economic coherence; basic unit m2, energetic (relevant to cost of individual right of consumption and the other coexisting or deduced, units of appropriated level of management can use: < 1000 / year or other family level; 1000 < ... < 5000 for community or small firm level; 10000 < ... < 20000 for local government level 100000 < ... < 500000 large scale production whole regional activity. Considering amounts see: 1 hectare / capita; 10 hectares / whole family, 10 - 100 ha for anthropized ecology or km of roads crossing an environment.
Now, a recent report for the pre-design of parameters of well-being and economics sustainable development has in evidence for something better than gross national or interior product per capita. Already since years we have power purchase parity adjusted. Kind of scores as Human Development Index present the difficulty of a semi-parametric nature especially if managed as an overall unique parameter. Despite the '3 feet' of this index, most people managed it as a quantity but often ignore non or semiparametric methods they could use. Also considering the national unit and its concern as well as simplifying (hidden) assumptions, did not make it a wise index, to compare national sub-units like regional ones, with the sort of (fake) algebra with poor but more correct functions which could have been disqualified.
For an insight on the sort of indicators we suggested a logical olicognographic ball as panel of social indicators. Providing a system of 6 dimensions and the shape of an hypercube. Globally, at level of a community as a unit, may be it can still managed an overall convexity (needed by the fate of the community if convexity has to play (our intermediate thermoeconomics posture on open system maintenance, a set of critical states has to consider also the entropic disorder, we are creating around (meanwhile depending on neighboring neguentropies eventually into pieces and entropy whole but should be sweet-smooth release) and local concavities, in time or space eventually maintained themselves because the higher unit of the system. In the olicognograph the subsystems quite autonomous is the family of the individual. The higher manageable subsystem is the community, may be up to the regional or national level. Highest real one being Earth.
Political Accountancy and Forms of Parameters of Social Wealth
Citizen conversations on news, political life and economic policies are too often trapped in expression of superficial opinions, but may have also created wise formulas of 'common sense' or popular wisdom which meaning could be explored more intuitively. See a frame in the olicognograph linked to this webpage.There are many simple preliminary duties, that can be conducted in small committees and could contribute to the development of consciousness. They should resume in synthetic complex pieces that could provide raw material to local authorities approaches. They must not have the purpose of impose policies to communities' life, but should help to find some ways to support genuine ones. Conceptual partial organization in spontaneous civil initiatives can be good at establishing citizens' approximations. And, of course, in a household economy, you will go on with other practical tools.
Hardware has been bought to equipped developing world governments but, out bureaucracies conveniences it has often been socially poorly productive and poorly maintained. National economies and social accounting systems, promoted by international organizations, have not been structured at pertinent levels of geographic nor at social scale like to allow sensible or robust comparisons. May be, we can have general perspective on countries and pretend to qualify or disqualify them but, save small homogeneous countries, studies have stood weak, wrong and poorly operating. Communities, firms and consistent economic actors waste time with hazardous information, determined more absurd average. Efforts dedicated to accounting procedures have diverted resources and even not provided good information for the level they pretended to serve. Such systems have inflated dialectics not helped much real social economic activities and may even have disqualified previous local systems of information honestly compiled, as well as more effective for common understanding.
Next paragraphs comment the linked olicognograph on citizen's judgment.
'Social' matter is related to how an administration fulfills its services toward the public, a broad-based concept between political subjects and administration. There the balance is between 'sense of solidarity' and 'sense of civil service', as this can be complementary. Also, you must care for others, future generations, etc. management of administration (“civil service”) is wrongly systematically 'particularistic' (like nepotism of clanic; but it must have a sense of humanist proximity) or 'general' (that is: for everybody, with a sense of equity). On its own,'solidarity' is 'responsible' (so with duties) or 'clientelism' (but anyone are voter too).
'Economics', at its turn, puts its balance between 'development' and 'distribution' (you may use other terms, for example, productive—consumption sectors, etc.). for economy, 'distribution' is 'sustainable' (or better for sustainability) or 'populist'. Meanwhile, 'development' is 'unequal' or 'social'.
With 'Politics', we suggest a balance between 'authority' and 'democracy'. Balance within 'authority' is between 'vision' and 'authoritarian' ways (when vision is revealed as wrong). Democracy is not very sustainable if just 'passive'; it has to be 'active'.
There are essentially 2 problems in social systems to which methods and insights from evolutionary biology are applied. What evolutionary forces lead to behavior and social states that are compatible with perfectly rational interaction of players? And, if there are multiple equilibria, which ones are limit points of evolutionary processes? The first problem may be seen as inducing search for a specific equivalence principle or, alternatively, as a problem of evolutionary implementation of rational solutions. The second problem falls into the realm of equilibrium refinement. Social project by Project's scope caring involvement or participation may have as "major steps: 1) Assignment of responsibility 2) Technical process and project management planning 3) Organize a project team 4) Public / stakeholder involvement and development 5) Public Involvement Plan 6) Project scope development 7) Project scope documentation 8) Project scope approval and scope modification".
Anyhow, any project is social, positively as expected or negatively by supposed adverse effects. Care that informally some adverse effects are because of determinist mispecification. Perhaps the worst promoters being those pretending to make good and distorting democratic analysis and appraisal. Now, social project can be examined, at different levels of social concern, from macro to micro; different register or sectors of activities (according main equipments installed and / or; by the involvement of people and communities. The most socially effective projects are not necessarily those pretending to target directly the people. These last ones often pretend to promote social sustainability with "positive economics and unprofitable reasons", like projects for reducing poverty. Plenty of complex misguidance can be given, including by the best intentioned people, because misunderstanding, ignorance of the complexity or of uncertainty and hardly questioning their own convictions. For example, natural disasters attracting enormous momentum, compassion, huge waste and miserable kinds of tourism.
"Project Scoping foresee: 1) Teamwork: project scoping is a collaborative effort involving teamwork and consensus building among stakeholders concerning the nature of a project and what it is intended to accomplish. 2) Public and Stakeholder Involvement : It is the cornerstone of successful project scoping and design. 3) Informed Decision Making: it is required a level of scoping commensurate with proposed work. 4) Project data requirements depend on a projects’ problems and needs, complexity, significance of related issues, and the scope and scale of alternatives to be evaluated. 5) Establish Consensus : among stakeholders concerning the proper scope of a project. At least on the following 4 technical products of scoping: project objective(s), design criteria, feasible alternative(s), and project cost estimate. 6) Proper Documentation: Clear and concise documentation that reflects stewardship of public interest and trust, logical decision making, and good record keeping".
"Stakeholder management implies to: 1) Communicate and build relationships with and between relevant stakeholders, understanding their relative impact and importance, 2) Know that stakeholder groups change all the time, so keeping pace with the new ones, 3) Be able to bring key people and groups with you to retain critical mass support for the vision and to solve the problems. This skill applies especially to politicians and includes understanding how political motives drive people at different times and for different reasons". Participating people (in inferior position: the beneficiaries) are not the only concerned y involvement: ”Private capital and initiative can help accomplish operational efficiency and investment objectives if two stringent requirements are met: 1) Projects must generate revenues that cover operating costs and debt-service payments, and earn a competitive rate of return on equity, and 2) Risks that are internal (for example, construction and operation) and external (for example, regulatory and foreign exchange) to a project must be identified and clearly allocated to the parties that are in the best position to mitigate them. With their own capital at risk, lenders and investors have strong financial incentives to ensure that a project is built on time and within budget, and is operationally efficient.
Involvement must seek, all the sort of learning benefits and its issues: "1) Analysis, decision making, learning from mistakes, evaluation , 2) Ensure that decisions are taken in light of available facts and using relevant past experience. Be able to identify trends and make decisions with this. 3) Analyze data to determine appropriate evidence to support decisions. 4) Encourage informed risk taking, and not penalizing failure where people are genuinely trying to do the right thing. 5) Share examples of where projects have not worked out, and learning the lessons. 6) Coach and mastering to grow the overall skills of a community, rather than just those of yourself or your immediate team".
