Writings

Panarchism Explained

Panarchism says that the supreme authority that we should follow and base our behaviour upon is that which is good for the flourishing of human life. This might seem an innocuous idea, but in fact few people follow it. Some people believe that what the government or law says should be the supreme authority. Others that it should be the democratic decision of the majority. Others follow the opinions of those around them. Others a particular book.

Panarchists however insist that everything should be judged by whether it helps or hinders the flourishing of life - the pleasure we get from life, our ability to exercise our capacities, our ability to find what we need when we need it, our ability to avoid painful or distressing experience which have no outweighing redeeming consequences. And as no man is an island, we must consider the common good, the overall good of society, where sometimes the needs and wishes of some will conflict with those of another. Panarchists need to be able to regulate competing claims to achieve the best overall outcome. However life is not a zero-sum game where the pleasure of one must always be at the expense of another. Panarchists seek to encourage a better, happier society where all have a better chance of a better life.

Panarchists believe that we must use both our head as well as our heart in discovering what is good in life, and encourage people to embark on a rational intellectual journey to discover what they should be doing. It is often not immediately clear what all the consequences of particular actions are. We need discipline to improve our ability to predict likely outcomes from our behaviour. This requires a good world-view which gives most attention to factors which are the most important and shows how they relate to each other.

However of course it may be rational to use tried and tested forms of behaviour which have been shown to work in the past, even if you don't know exactly why. Thus Panarchism does not set itself against cultural tradition. Nevertheless it believes that ultimately any court which decides between conflicting claims as to what is good, must use the universal process of rational debate rather than culturally specific authorities which only some adhere to.

Principles and Imperatives of Panarchism

Panarchism is a set of general principles for organising human life in order to achieve a happy state of affairs where human life is able to flourish.

There is not yet any definitive text which explains what these principles are to our satisfaction, but we will keep trying to get to the heart of the matter, hoping that we can create some clear statement which will be useful to others. Of course we are not the first people to make such an attempt, and we can gain inspiration from those who have gone before us.

Panarchist Imperatives

1. Panarchists should seek the best way that they are personally able to improve the lot of humankind or other creatures
2. Panarchists consider every life has significance and what is good for each life should be taken into account.
3. Panarchists strive to gain a clear rational understanding of the nature of the world and the situation they are in, unclouded by emotion or mysticism.
4. Panarchists pay most attention to the factors that are most important or else to the factors which they have most chance of influencing.
5. Panarchists must dedicate part of their personal time and energy to the cause of enhancing human flourishing.

Principles recognized by Panarchists:

1. It can be good for people to be able to indicate what they like or dislike and to be able to get an immediate response in their environment in their favour.
2. However it may also be good if there is some resistance in the environment so that people have to struggle (ie work) to gain what they desire.
3. It can be good if some people have more authority than others and are able to regulate the activity of those around them to some degree.
4. Life is usually about balancing different interests rather than supporting just one interest.
5. It is usually good if those with authority are imbued with a spirit of goodwill towards those under their influence, and wish to see them flourish.
6. Each life has a nature and it is better if its environment is responsive to this nature.
7. Many goods can only be achieved by people coming together with others and collaborating on a common task.
8. There are factors affecting whether people collaborate harmoniously and effectively or disharmoniously and ineffectively.
9. The better a life understands its environment the better able it will be to get the best from that environment.
10. People may act either pro-actively or re-actively. When acting pro-actively they first create an understanding of their situation for themselves, they then create goals for themselves which they see as desirable. These goals normally consist of a wish to pattern their environment in a particular way. They then create a strategy to achieve this goal. This strategy will likely consist of a collection of plans of how they should act under given conditions.

Types of Panarchist:

It is worth distinguishing different types of Panarchist. The difference is more one of emphasis than fundamental philosophy. However it might be expected that people with similar outlooks or interests will wish to group together under a more specific banner than just Panarchist.

Ethnic Panarchists are interested in ethno-cultural issues. They define themselves first by which national or ethnic community they belong to.

Territorial Panarchists are interested in the whole population of a particular defined territory and how they get on together and manage their lives.

Attitudinal Panarchists for want of a better term are other Panarchists who define themselves by their attitude to the world. This might include religious believers or those who consider themselves of liberal heart, or who are particularly interested in environmental issues.

The Three Orders

We also find it useful to distinguish three Orders or levels in which Panarchist principles can be applied.

First or Community Order Panarchism is concerned with the world of our immediate experience, and of our day to day lives. We seek to have influence over our immediate surroundings, and the people we have direct contact with. We seek to create a social structure that can satisfy most of our immediate individual and collective needs. First Order Panarchism is thus concerned with our personal and family life, and of face-to-face communities of which we can be members.

Second or National Order Panarchism relates to the scope of action of larger collectives of people who may not know each other personally, but who share a common culture and outlook and thus have the means to develop common organisation. Second Order Panarchism is concerned with the life of a nation, and its various parts, or of particular political or religious movements.

Third or Imperial Order Panarchism is concerned with influencing the combined actions of many people who may not have any particular ties of culture or loyalty except that derived from a common need to address a particular issue. Third Order Panarchism is concerned with the governance of territories comprising many ethnic communities. This includes the governance of the whole globe.

October 2005