-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.23/pageone.html <A HREF="http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.23/pageone.html">Laissez Faire City Times - Volume 3 Issue 23 </A> ----- Laissez Faire City Times June 7, 1999 - Volume 3, Issue 23 Editor & Chief: Emile Zola ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Systems Thinking & Government Failure by James Wright I took a training class a few years back, to learn SPC/SQC; this is Statistical Process Control / Statistical Quality Control. All the math-phobic reading this can relax; I’m not going to try to condense three days of instruction into an essay. But I learned quite a few useful things from this class, which may help you to improve your understanding of why U.S. government actions, works and departments so often fail to reach their objectives. The instructor started by defining a system as a process which takes inputs and transforms them into outputs. Simple enough, yet powerful when widely applied. He drew three columns on the board and started filling them in. Inputs Process Outputs Adult coyotes, Reproduction Baby coyotes rabbits, water, other carrion, time Money, materials, General Motors GM automobiles work, time Matter, energy, time Reality Universe That last one is probably a bit too simplistic, but it gets the idea across: any process can be analyzed in terms of what it uses, how it transforms it, and what results. Anyone doing this can choose the level of detail you want in inputs and outputs, few or many. Another idea I want to bring in from this course was also from the first day of instruction: Every system is perfectly designed, carefully maintained and precisely operated to give you exactly what you get. This applies to all systems, not just the heavily-automated industrial machinery processes we were concerned with at the time. It applies to the coyote system, to GM, the universe and all the various systems we call America. The rest of the world will have to analyze their own systems; I’m not familiar enough with them to comment. I am writing this to spread this virulent set of memes across the land as efficiently as possible, because I see some of the same things that Robert L. Kocher does, albeit from an engineering point of view. Many, many people across this land cannot understand that all the governmental "systems" that are failing us on a daily basis are doing so because they have to. They are designed faultily, maintained faultily or operated faultily, and failings are what they produce. The examples are numerous, but here are a few to get you started. Inputs Process Outputs Children, tax money, Government schools Dull and apathetic adults time, teachers, unwilling to think critically facilities, administrators, "theories" regulations,... People, tax money, Government tax system (IRS) Coerced adults deprived of time, papers, laws, what they’ve produced in order facilities,... to fund government "programs" People, tax money, Prisons Alienated, hardened and time, facilities, laws, ... determined criminals who cannot fit into society well People, money, American society Indeterminate; largely a time, facilities, mixture of mature adults, laws, customs,... "tall children", criminals, deviant-behavior types, saints, sinners, .... If you do not appreciate what the system you observe is giving you, then you need to change something. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. By that definition, anyone who wants to "mend them, not end them" must demonstrate that mending them will produce better results. Government tried to "mend" the welfare system for forty years before finally moving towards "ending" it, by giving those on welfare a few years to find a job before benefits were to terminate. Someone finally got the message that the welfare "system" was fundamentally flawed in design (and operation), and could not be "mended" under the existing design limits. It may finally be time to "end" the government schools systems, the government tax systems, the prison systems, or others similar systems. Some more insights from systems theory and operation are available. Imagine a thermostat: the box on the wall you tweak when the house is too hot or cold. Imagine you have one of the old kind, a single-controller unit that controls both the furnace and air conditioner. Imagine setting the controller to try to cool the house to 74 degrees at the same time it is set to heat it to 75 degrees. What happens? The air conditioner will come on and try to cool the house to 74. When it succeeds in cooling the thermostat to 74 degrees, it will shut off. But the thermostat will tell the furnace to come on, and heat the house to 75 degrees. When it heats the thermostat to 75, it will shut off; but then the air conditioner will come on, and so forth. Overconstrained systems will oscillate to destruction. You will wear your furnace and air conditioner out, as they fight each other to carry out your instructions. What happens when you instruct a society that life is sacred—and then kill the Branch Davidians? That freedom is paramount, but that the government can wiretap your phones at will? That the Constitution is the law of the land, but that handguns must be controlled? Imagine that the "bulb" on your thermostat shorts out; now the system has no way to know what the real temperature is. If it fails in a neutral condition, neither furnace nor air conditioner comes on, and your house temperature will lag the outside temperature, as the day heats up and the night cools off. If it fails positive, the system will turn on the air conditioner and leave it on; you may grow icicles on your furniture, but the system cannot react. If it fails negative, the furnace will come on and stay on; your house plants may dry up and blow away, but the system cannot react. Systems isolated from feedback cannot function properly. What happens when the bureaucrats are protected from termination except in dire fraud, criminal or negligent behavior cases? What happens when a President can lie to the people, attack with armed forces without restraint, murder citizens and sell sensitive information to foreign lands without removal? What happens when politicians can count on the "incumbent advantage"? Every system is perfectly designed, carefully maintained and precisely operated to give you exactly what you get. If voting for Republicans gains you military-industrial nightmares and voting for Democrats gains you socialist-totalitarian nightmares, shouldn’t you consider changing the system? I am enough of a systems-thinker now to recognize the signs of an improperly-functioning system; have I convinced you? Have you convinced yourself yet? If you need more examples, just read your local newspaper; the articles that aren’t faked will provide even more demonstrations of what is outlined above. If and when you finally are convinced, then make your choices known; I suggest home schooling your kids, minimizing your tax liabilities and voting Libertarian. And as a proponent of the systems-thinking approach, I propose a slogan for national Libertarians to consider: "Improve the system: Vote Libertarian!" Anyone for bumper stickers? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ James Wright may be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . from The Laissez Faire City Times, Vol 3, No 23, June 7, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published by Laissez Faire City Netcasting Group, Inc. Copyright 1998 - Trademark Registered with LFC Public Registrar All Rights Reserved ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
