Suzanne Deakins, H.W., M. (who passed on yesterday, November 21, 2024)
April 5, 2022
By Suzanne Deakins, H.W., M. (forwarded by Pam Rodolph, H.W., M.)
This started out as an essay on the importance of ontology in forming a democracy. Once Russia invaded Ukraine, a relook at democracy was needed. Yuval Noah Harari, in his talk about how the future may look drew my attention to history. Reiterating what Harari said: Wealth and the rulers of the past, the plutocracies were all drawn to the idea that wealth and power was based on land ownership. In the 20th century, that changed to machines. Those that had the most machines or machines that could produce wealth were the rulers. We are now in a time where wealth and power will be based on data. Data of all kinds, not just what you like to eat, wear, and do but data that tells someone about your health, tells them about your emotional life, even about your gender preferences in your private life. The data will know you better than you know yourself.
This is not about privacy, but the idea that we will have little choice in our actions unless we know ourselves. In turn, this allows a small group of oligarchies to rule masses without protest. Apparently, as I am writing, this is happening in China where evidently collected data on citizens is being used to help direct and calm people before an outbreak of unrest can happen.
As I write this, according to Freedom House, America’s Democracy rating has declined 11 points putting it out of range of democracies such as France and Germany and on the same level as weaker democracies such as Romania and Panama. This is more than sad it is a dangerous legacy to give the world.
The lack of Democratic insight and understanding throughout the USA has reached a point where we are losing our interconnection as a society. We no longer recognize equality of being and the need for understanding that sameness is not equality. During WWII, the loss of sovereignty of countries and individuals and the stripping away of the basic right to life was an ontological disaster. The Prosperos emerged out of ashes of WWII. Thane saw that ontology was the answer to demolishing plutocracy, dictatorship and tyranny of all kinds. In both, the general population becomes slaves, unable to pull themselves out of the darkness of toil for survival.
A Small History
The Ontology idea of humanity is as individuals and beings with purpose. Democracy is more than a political system of governance, it holds deep roots back to 5 BCE and the Athenian idea of freeing humanity from slavery. In the study of Ontology as consciousness, we know that all that is in our world is a product of our thinking. This means that which appears to be separate is still a part of our conscious awareness.
Because we know that mind evolves, expands, awakens, we know that all we are aware of is evolving, awakening to a new understanding of the beingness of life and what appears to be nonlife. Evolution is more than that of the flesh and bone, or plant life. Evolution occurs in every aspect of mind. No matter how static an idea, structure, or a philosophy appears, it is evolving.
The Prosperos was formed to create a body of Truth Practioners and to awaken us from the illusion of darkness. To free a group of people, they must be given a common identity. In democracy, the common identity we call citizen, in The Prosperos we call it students. To be a citizen or student, or common identity meant that you must agree to a social contract. Once you agree to this contract you can participate in voting and governance at level of equality. In the United States, our contract is the Constitution. All organizations in the modern world have these contracts – businesses, schools, and sites on the internet. Every time you click on an I agree on the Internet, you are making a social contract. In the Prosperos, this is the creed of Melchizedek, not the by-laws. High Watch has always been the voting body. Only in the early foundation of The Prosperos was it not.
The separation into the rulers and those being ruled is ages old. It has evolved into organized groups of all kinds. The philosophy states “Groups must be ruled for the nature of humanity is bad and unable to remain moral and ethical without a governing supreme being.” The conservative mind sees their form of supreme being as God, or God like figure, rather than the group who votes in laws (ways of proceeding). The liberal thinker sees the social contract as ruling factor where the citizens vote on the rule of law and believe in humanity as good or able to practice moral and ethical actions without a God like figure head. The philosophy that humanity is not naturally good and able to be ethical, has allowed CEOs, headmasters, and presidents of all organizations to form.
John Locke’s influence on those starting to make changes in the evolving desire of people and how they were governed, Locke saw the state of nature, humanity as a state of perfection with the ability to conduct life as the individual saw fit. He saw humanity as being able to rule themselves without interference from others. Locke’s writing showed that he did not mean that humanity should be free to do what they please if it harmed others. He saw humanity as having a basic morality. His working axiom was the state of nature or beingness is pre-political but not pre-moral. Thomas Jefferson and the fathers of the wording of the United States Constitution were greatly influences by Locke’s philosophy.
The organization of The Prosperos has been influenced by Locke’s philosophy and the USA constitution. The Dean and Executive council work as the supreme court judging according to the rule of ontological law. HW acts as legislatures forming pathways to the future with ideas and use of Translation. Executive council was never meant to rule on their beliefs but on the basics of ontology. For the Prosperos to evolve it must allow the HW to vote on such things as the members of the Executive Council, Dean, and pathways that lead us to the future. To continue as an organization that treats its members as incapable of self-rule, and good intentions leaves it open to tyranny, and loss of participants who seek more ontological ways of being in a group.
If an organization, government, or business does not plan for the future in a manner that includes natural evolution, it will die out. Organizations and businesses of all kinds fall under the same laws of progression as biological life, albeit they move according to societal changes in consciousness. All are started by an individual or small group who are the ruling body of the entity. For survival to occur the organization (this includes schools) and business must progress to the next level of development. As research and changing environments must be accounted for in preparation for the future. Planning must take into justification aging population, growth expectations, research, and management needs. If this is not done the dogma of the culture of the organization will cause a breakdown. This collapse is seen in group determination, managerial systems, and financial growth. Growth and evolution of an organization does not preclude an organization staying at smaller levels.
In the second half of the 20th Century a strong change began happening in some USA companies and organizations. Problem solving and management moved from the top to the levels that were dealing with problems, trends, and development. The CEO, president, and Deans became spoke persons/communicators rather than the god in control or supreme authority. This meant ontology and democracy began to be integrated in organizations of all categories.
The consensus is that the supreme authority is no longer a viable source of leadership. The validity of the contract between the citizenry and leaders is being seen as no longer acceptable. Out of this a country, organizations, and businesses must begin to reimagine a future and how leadership will look and how the contract will be drawn. The new leadership must have the ability to use all systems, see and apply whole system thinking. Understand the totality of the consequences of decisions and designs of their organization.
Autonomy is basic to democracy
For there to be a democracy there must be a fundamental commitment to ontology. Our beingness, according to Heidegger, is influenced by the situations we find ourself in and practices we are immersed in. Most modern-day ontologists believe that individuals in society are shaped by historically situated linguistics. We can separate ourselves from society, but our beingness is built by our language, history, and the meaning we place on words. Democratic debate relies on the value laden ideas of true and false, in this we are separated from a state of wholeness, plunging us into a binary world. The ontological pursuit allows the debate to flush out the Truth of realities being presented by each side. Individuals bring their idea of reality to the debates in democracy. Without a common agreed upon reality the debates are riddled with pluralism. The ontologist scientist is always conditioned by personal values even when they try to escape a propensity to judge while aspiring to value neutral observations.
The first branch is ontology, or the ‘study of being’, which is concerned with what actually exists in the world about in which humans can acquire knowledge. Ontology helps researchers recognize how certain they can be about the nature and existence of objects they are researching. For instance, what ‘truth claims’ can a researcher make about reality? Who decides the legitimacy of what is ‘real’? How do researchers deal with different and conflicting ideas of reality?
To illustrate, realist ontology relates to the existence of one single reality which can be studied, understood, and experienced as a Truth; a real world exists independent of human experience. Meanwhile, ontology is based on the philosophy that reality is constructed within the mind, such that no one ‘true’ reality exists in society. Instead, reality is ‘relative’ according to how individuals experience it at any given time and place.
© 2022 Suzanne Deakins, Ph.,D., H.W., M.
(This article was originally posted on the Bathtub Bulletin on April 5, 2022.)