LYNN STUTER ON SYSTEMS THINKING
\doc\web\98\10\system.txt
Date sent: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:45:19
To: fredb001@spectra.net
From: "Lynn M Stuter"
Subject: Systems Thinking and the Voucher/Charter Movement
The discussion on the loop (for those who receive this who are not on "the
loop", this is a nation-wide education discussion loop) the last few days
has been hot and heavy about charters and vouchers. But that discussion
has been about semantics -- not about the system itself and what that
system is intended to accomplish. Because of that, I saw nothing
constructive being accomplished. I hope what follows gives readers a
better understanding of why charters and vouchers play into government
hands.
Defined, systems thinking or the systems approach states that the world is
a system of subsystems (in themselves called systems), all interdependent
and interconnected for a holistic or wholistic system; that within any
system is an infrastructure that is analogous across systems, irrespective
of physical appearance.
That's nifty -- sounds good, but what does it mean? Systems thinking
views the world not in terms of plant and animal, man and beast, dirt and
air, but rather as an a non-entity; viewing them simply in terms of an
infrastructure that is analogous from one to the next -- whether man or
beast, plant or animal, dirt or air. It follows thereform, that no
infrastructure is superior to another, takes precedence over another, but
must live in harmony with all others. To accomplish this, all systems
must be interconnected and interdependent, working together to achieve
peace and harmony; and to accomplish this, all systems must function, not
with a nationalistic viewpoint (my nation, my state, my county, my home)
but with a wholistic viewpoint (a global -- or beyond that, a cosmic
viewpoint).
Well, that's nice . . . sounds wonderful . . . but what has that got to do
with the price of rice? Everything. In the systems approach, all systems
must collaborate on equal footing. This means there can be no leaders.
But wouldn't that create chaos? Not if there is a singular philosophy, a
singular way of doing things, a singular world view. We must get rid of
the authoritarian hierarchy to include the authoritarian God. To this
end, all wisdom must come from within, people must become participants in
their own governance, we must become consensus builders, the community
(collective) must come before the individual. Sound familiar? All are
semantics in achieving the ultimate goal of the balance and stability of
the system. And in order for the system to maintain balance and
stability, the system must be all-inclusive. This is why people keep
hearing ALL this, ALL that, ALL everything -- from education and workforce
training and retraining to healthcare. Every subsystem must be included
and must sustain balance and stability within itself and in concert with
other subsystems. Realize that in these two words, we are talking about
behaviors not intellectual capability, but that intellectual capabilities
are necessarily supressed by the necessity to sustain balance and
stability. This is discussed more below.
But how can balance and stability be maintained? By voluntary means if
possible, by people buying into the semantics forthcoming from the
philosophy (consensus building, strategic planning, outcome based
education, total quality management, continuous quality improvment,
collaboration, cooperation, conflict resolution, higher order thinking
skills, child-centered learning . . .); and if not by voluntary means, by
coercion. Even though denying man an elevated status as a subsytem, man
is nevertheless the ultimate target as man basically controls all other --
be it land, water, air or animal. As such, man must be made to realize
that this is what is best for him and for his continued existence; man
must by into the semantics forthcoming from the philosophy without full
knowledge of what the philosophy is. At the same time, however,
mechanisms must be put in place such that if man refuses to buy in, man
can be coerced. The national databases of information being accumulated
on every man, woman, and child are the tool most effective and most
readily available for controlling man.
What poses as a threat to the system, its balance and stability? Anything
that does not conform to the wholistic nature of the system. This is
anything that is autonomous, that is not integrated (nondistinct,
nondiscript) and firmly entrenched in the system much as morninglory roots
are interwined in other root systems, that cannot be controlled. This can
be an individual who refuses to buy in, a Christian who believes in the
authoritarian God, this is definitely private, parochial and home schools
whose curriculums, instructional practices, and infrastructure are outside
systems control.
So, what must be done to alleviate this problem? Mechanisms must be
established to bring radical elements under the system. Vouchers and
charters are such a mechanism. With public money comes government
control.
By giving out vouchers, emanating from pots of public money, payable to
either parent or school, the school comes under government regulation, is
drawn into the system, and is stript of its autonomy, of its
individuality, of its identity (different-ness). The charter school, by
allowing private corporations access to public tax dollars brings the
corporation under government control, and removes the elective
(hierarchial) oversight that is a current accountability problem with the
public schools. Remember, accountability is not defined in the systems
world as accountability to the taxpayer, ie, quality and efficiency of
services rendered as a comparative to input of time and resources,
accountability is defined as compliance to the system. Those mechanisms
that frustrate compliance with the system must be removed.
So, how can this system be frustrated? In the end, the system frustrates
itself. The system is often frustrated by the human factor (human nature)
and human differences, and by necessity becomes coercive, tyrannical. The
coercive state can exist for a long period of time -- generations. As
some may recognize, the ultimate experiment in the systems approach was
the USSR. But eventually the system begins to break down. In maintaining
balance and stability, the system must be, by its very nature, very
structured and very strictured. So much so, that over time, it becomes
brittle. As systems thinking frustrates human intellectual growth and
competitiveness, medicrity sets in, frustrating in turn, economic
stability and growth. The system becomes brittle as "leaders" try to
shore up what cannot be shored up in the absence of human growth and
competitiveness. The system implodes.
Another way of looking at this, in simplistic terms, is when you have a
circle, and you apply pressure, either from inside the circle or from
outside the circle, the circle is going to explode or implode because the
circle is rigid; whereas if you have a straight line, and apply pressure
from either side, the line will bend either way -- it is flexible.
It took 80 years for the USSR to come apart, do we want to wait that long?
That is why, in the one post, I stated that we must find a way to break
the circle that cannot be controlled by the government. There has to be a
way.
Several have asked me what is it. I wish I knew. Its a question I have
pondered many an hour. History shows that previous systems have either
been destroyed by war (Germany, Italy), resulted in civil war (Vietnam,
Korea), or simply imploded (USSR). This is not unlike weather. Weather
is the one factor in the systems approach that cannot be controlled by man
as was so recently and so adequately demonstrated in Central America. It
has a way of rising up at the most inopportune times and leaving
uncontrolled devastation in its path that is not readily or easily
assimilated by the system. It exposes and exacerbates the brittleness of
the system.
There are some things that we can do toward fomenting that brittleness and
ultimately that breach: 1. Educate people. With education comes
discernment and discernment is the greatest enemy of tyrants. 2.
Encourage individuality and independence of the government dole. Y2K may
be -- whether a major or minor disruption of the "norm" -- a God-send in
that people will learn to be self-reliant again. 3. Get pastors educated
and involved. Pastors preaching truth and biblical law from the pulpit
are essential to educating the people. There are too many pastors caught
up in the church growth movement -- where the system becomes more
important than the soul. 4. Teach the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Leftists disparage those who do this, but remember, the more people hear
it, the more people listen, the more they think, the more they remember,
the more they apply. They need to keep hearing it like a broken record.
5. Vote, and vote intelligently. Don't vote the party line or for the guy
at the top of the list because its convenient. Take the time to educate
yourself about the issues and candidates. 6. Get involved. Don't become a
placid robot caught in the rut of everyday life. The price of freedom is
vigilance. Too often we are willing to complain but not willing to put
our time, effort, and money where our mouth is.
Others will have other suggestions. They are most welcome. I hope this
helps and contributes something constructive to the conversation.
Lynn M Stuter