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What is Panarchism?

Panarchism can best be thought of as a replacement for Socialism.

Since the dawn of industrial society people of goodwill have sought to find ways to improve the lot of the common man against the facts of increasing concentration of economic power in fewer hands. Many such people of goodwill have called themselves socialists, however the socialist movement has been interfered with by the same plutocrats it was seeking to overthrow and its original aims subverted. Panarchists see that the same dilemmas faced by the early socialists are still with us today, and seek to re-start the process that went astray when Marx got involved.

While there is also much overlap between Panarchism and Nationalism, implicit in the idea of Panarchism is that it is not satisfactory to only consider the welfare of one’s own nation, but that some of the time at least one must consider the welfare of the earth as a whole.

Panarchism seeks to be rational in its deliberations, pragmatic in its prescriptions, benevolent in its attitude to most of life but able to inspire the crusading spirit where such is needed.

On the largest scale it considers the whole earth and all the creatures who live upon it and seeks to answer the question ‘How can it best be organized for the common good?’.

Religion

In Panarchism a ‘religion’ is any comprehensive pattern of thinking that a person uses to structure their thoughts and behaviour.

A good religion will be a way of thinking which explains the key features of the world in terms that are easy to grasp and which inspire emotional passion and drive where action is needed.

People’s minds are naturally equipped to deal with a world populated by persons with particular thoughts and relations towards them. Thus most religions make use of concepts such as ‘gods’ or ‘spirits’ or ‘angels’ that have the characteristics of a person. This just makes the religion easier for people to understand.

Religious Panarchists may adopt such a scheme and find they gain extra strength from it.

However Secular Panarchists are those who prefer to stick to the more scientific terms of Panarchism proper.

Mythosophy

Mythosophy or ‘Story Wisdom’ is writing which encapsulates a piece of wisdom about the world in an easily digestible and communicable form.

A piece of Mythosophy will likely be a ‘story’ with a moral to it. It follows in the tradition of stories about the Heathen gods, fairy stories and bible stories.

Mythosophy can cover both immediately personal issues and wider community issues.

Mythosophy can be used to educate people about the world they live in so they may be better able to influence it for good.

Mythosophy is the kind of writing whose relevance is not tied to a particular historical situation, but which elucidates themes of perennial relevance. So it will ‘stand the test of time’, by speaking to future generations as well as present ones.

Mythosophical writings are not ‘owned’ by anyone but can be freely copied.

It is hoped that there will be professional ‘collectors of Mythosophy’ who will search out the best pieces of Mythosophy available and compile them into a printed book which can be widely distributed.


Panarchy


Panarchy -– “all rule” - – a state of affairs in which the needs and wishes of each life makes its mark on the overall political settlement.

It is the opposite of ‘Monocracy’ -– “one rule” -– a state of affairs in which the goal of all politically significant activity is set by a single all-powerful agent -– a totalitarian system.

A science

Panarchism can be described as a science - the ‘science of human flourishing’, or as an ideology. As a science it seeks to describe the required characteristics of a system which can provide a basis for human (and non-human) life to flourish. As an ideology it seeks to provide a model of the world which provides a useful basis for practical action. It can perhaps be split into ‘micro-Panarchism’ and ‘macro-Panarchism’.

Micro-Panarchism describes the necessary features of an individual’s social and physical environment which best enable him to flourish – and the characteristics of a human grouping etc which might assist in this.

Macro-Panarchism deals with the larger political picture, how a happy society can be created out of many people with different natures and roles, and how it can maintain this state against adverse pressures.

Panarchism in the world today


Interest in Panarchism arises out of the observation that the world around us does not appear to be ordered for our benefit.

It is often not immediately obvious to people why it is ordered as it is, however there is a clear feeling that things are not going the way we would like. We may feel this in our own lives or see bad effects on the lives of others whether near to us or at a distance.

Panarchists seek to create an intellectual theory which models both the characteristics of the world which affect its ‘liveability’, and the characteristics which affect people’s behaviour to make it more or less liveable.

Micro-Panarchism - Introduction


We posit that a life can flourish if the environment around it at any time is one suited to its needs at that time.

In some cases the life may best be presented with a choice of possible environments and left to choose itself the one it prefers.

Sometimes it is best if the life is presented with an obstacle in the way of its movement which requires a degree of effort or struggle to overcome.

Sometimes it is best if a life is in the care of another which can see its needs and tailor the environment accordingly especially if the life is young or sick.

A person’s environment consists of the people around them and the physical space they inhabit.

Whether a person can flourish depends a lot on the nature of the people around them – their cognitive map of the world, their current and past emotional reactions to life, their expectations as to where they should focus their attention and what kind of behaviour they should engage in and their capabilities to manage in particular situations.

People can get social benefit by coming together in association with others. If the association is free then it can develop a shared scheme or culture which gives to each person a particular mode of thinking so that they act in ways which benefit themselves and co-ordinate happily with the others in the association so that each helps create the environment needed by the others.

September 2005