You are partly right. A body is not a society. But a harmonious /
healthy body tries to eliminate unruly / disruptive autonomous /
rebellious colonies of cells (cancers etc.). Similarly democratic
societies put legal restraints on individual members in the interests
of the 'social organism' which, if it achieves consensus, is governed
by similar limits -- unhealthy / insane / outlaw individuals are liable
to incur legal restraints or even sequestration / exclusion. Where such
restraints are decided by consensus they are not dictatorial.
Similarly, each (intracellular) organelle in each cell in the body
obeys rules / laws of interaction with the rest of the clone / species
and environment / ecosystem / biosphere. Nations tend to mould and be
moulded by constituent social organizations. The comparison has been
made with a fern frond, where each filament is part of a leaflet of a
twig of a branch -- the relationship of atoms to molecules is one stage
in a 'fractal' series with the ultimate stage a harmonious universe.
Many philosophers have addressed this paradox with slogans like 'true
freedom requires self-discipline' and 'diversity strengthens unity'.
-- Doug
====
Doug Everingham wrote:
It seems to me we need a method to replace selection of 'elite'
authorities, and substitute CONSENSUS building, with interlinked
feedback networks of all stakeholders -
Hi Doug,
Hear hear! I'm glad to see some discussion outside the box of
'voting'. Democracy is about us governing ourselves, and unless we
learn how to build consensus, there's no such thing as 'our will'.
rather like the organization of cells in a multi-celled organism,
where no organ dominates in toto but each contributes to interdependent
efficiencies: heart, lungs, brain, glands, skin etc. Such 'organic'
democracy is happening as described by www.sociocracy.biz
and slowly being pursued by SmPol adopters [ www.simpol.org ]
There are good 'democracy models' to be found in life systems, but the
body is not one of them. The body is a better metaphor for a
dictatorship, where the ego is the dictator, and the body must suffer
abuse (eg, smoking, drugs, poor diet). Indeed, Hobbes used the image of
The Leviathan (a large creature) for the hierarchical state. In the
body, each cell serves the needs of the central organism; it's a
regimented 'society'.
