Unifying Social Dynamics
Mark Joyner Construct Zero
(version 1.0)

Premise:

Through the deliberate selection of universally beneficial common goals and the creation of cross-border activities to attain them, a dynamic of global social unification and forward progress will be created.

Expanded:

All human conflict has been caused by division, or the perception of division.  National divisions have caused wars.  Religious divisions have caused crusades and jihads.  Class divisions have caused revolutions.

People will be less likely to participate in the cross-division conflict if the following occur: the division is removed, the intensity of a division is lessened, or the perception of the division is lessened.

It could even be theorized that interpersonal conflict happens the same way.  You fight with someone because, in one way or another, they are not "on your side."

People have been known to unify across divisions when one of two things is found: a common enemy or a common goal.  For that moment in time while we are bound in our pursuit of a common goal or the destruction of a common enemy, our attention is directed away from any division and the perception of it is diminished.

Whether you believe that all conflict is created by division or not, it is undeniable that a unifying dynamic is created by common enemies and goals.  Even a cursory glance at history will prove this to be true.

Up to this point, our selection of common goals and enemies has been mostly arbitrary or accidental.  Circumstance has dictated when this has happened, and the bonds generated by these alliances have withered just as whimsically.

At the end of "The Great War" of World War II, for example, the alliance between the USSR and the United States almost instantly gave way to "Cold War."  The alliance didn't last long enough to create any lasting change.

If they are selected deliberately, we can actually stimulate a dynamic of social unification instead of division.

Further, our selection of common enemies and goals has not always been for universal benefit.  If we select common goals which benefit all, we can stimulate progress instead of destruction.

What if these common goals were selected deliberately?  And what if we were bound by not just one, but hundreds of them?  And what if there was an elaborate web of such projects spanning the globe?

Guidelines:

As you are inspired to create activities that support the spread of Unifying Social Dynamics, the following guidelines will help to increase impact.

Each project should be:

1.  Universally Beneficial

There are certain things which almost all people can agree would be universally beneficial.

Many of these things are easily feasible with today's technology, but our perceived divisions and "Fixations" (see Mark Joyner construct 2) have prevented us from attaining them.

The attainment of the following will resolve much of the non-productive fixation of the world:

• Universal Food and Water

• Freedom From Disease

• Universal Energy

• Universal Education

• Stabilization of Natural Resource Consumption

Imagine a world where the basic human needs are met for all and one would not have to live with the constant threat of impending starvation or disease.  Note that I am not proposing an equal distribution of wealth, but technological automation that guarantees these rights to all regardless of their social position. 

The above list in no way encompasses all of the possibilities of universally beneficial goals, but it is a good start.  Other possible areas could include: accelerated learning, life extension, and so on ...

Further, certain goals can be doubly beneficial if they aim to dissolve divisions themselves.  For example, any activity that aims to attain universal access to basic human needs will dissolve the distinction between those who have and those who lack. 

In a capitalist society there will always be a division between the ultra-rich and the non-ultra-rich, but history has not yet seen a middle-class uprising, therefore this division is not significant enough to create conflict.  It is only those who have lacked basic human rights or the ability to satisfy basic human needs who have been prone to rise up in acts of violence against an oppressive power.

Since the population of industrialized nations has stabilized and the population of 3rd world nations is exploding, this is a division which is becoming more significant and potentially explosive every day.  For example, it could be argued that  through the elimination of poverty in the middle east (something certainly well within the technological abilities of today) extremism in that region could be eliminated along with it.

2.  Non-Destructive

If we were to call the attainment of Universal Food and Water a "War on Poverty" it might become an excuse for acts of violence.

The intent of Unifying Social Dynamics is to eliminate conflict.  While the adoption of a common enemy is a unifying force, if the elimination of that enemy is indeed universally beneficial, it can always be phrased in a non-destructive way.

Elimination of Poverty = Universal Food and Water

The War on Disease = Freedom from Disease

And so on ...

Clearly the way information is presented is tantamount to how it is received.

3.  Cross-Border

Since the intent of Unifying Social Dynamics is to have an impact on divisions, the participation in any universally beneficial activities should be encouraged across existing borders (be they ideological, racial, national, economic, or otherwise).

At the very least participation should be universally open.  At best, cross-border participation should be encouraged (if it is possible to do so in a way that is not so heavy-handed as to seem solicitous).

4.  Deliberate

Activities that stimulate a dynamic of social unification have existed before the creation of this Construct, of course.

However, in order to become responsible caretakers for this world a deliberate pursuit of these activities is needed in order to prevent universal self-destruction.  Without it, Dividing Social Dynamics can easily become the dominant force.

5.  Activity

Since these are "dynamics" they refer to actions.  We can choose to participate in many activities and some may "Fixate" us in constructive ways or destructive ways.  If we do not engage in activities which will deliberately fixate us in constructive ways there is no telling in which direction we will go.  It's a gamble.

We could choose to simply "discuss" concepts and those discussions may result in nothing at all, no matter how well intentioned.  Even worse, discussion without action fixates the mind on discussion and creates the easily accepted illusion of progress.

Further, charity in it's purest sense may be used to support the activities of Unifying Social Dynamics, but the act of contributing to charity in itself is not Unifying Social Dynamics.  The idea here is to get individuals involved and to interact with other people across our divisions.  Writing a check will not have any impact on the perception of divisions to the writer of the check.

6.  Not Border Creating or Supporting

If Unifying Social Dynamics is used to create elitist or exclusive movements which create borders it is missing the mark entirely.  Further, if participation is limited to certain divisive characteristics, it would simply support the existence of that border and not lessen its perception.

Examples:

Activities which support Unifying Social Dynamics can be of any scale, globally large, or as small as a group of two.

Since there is a very real physical distance separating us, most of these projects will use the Internet extensively to connect people.  However, real physical contact should be encouraged as much as possible.  At the very least, participants should somehow interact with another person across a border toward a common goal.

The following are potential examples to illustrate the various ways in which the agenda of Unifying Social Dynamics can be furthered:

A Global Project to Stimulate the Abundance of Food in 3rd World Villages
There are people in many regions of the world who lack clean water and sufficient food supplies.  Train up people from industrialized nations in basic well-making, irrigation, and farming.  Send these multi-national teams to 3rd world villages.  Volunteers could go for 30 day stints.  Two weeks of training and two weeks of work.  One of the team members would train at least three villagers in these skills.  One of the villagers would maintain contact with the Project in order to organize for more supplies as needed as they venture out into other villages to complete the work.

An International Project for the Future of Energy and Food
What if we rallied together and put pressure on our prospective governments to band together to research alternative energy sources?  What if the ultimate goal of this program was to provide unlimited free energy and food for everyone in the world?  Does this sound far fetched and impossible?  Well, go back in time 200 years ago and tell people that the entire world would be connected by a global information network where all of the knowledge of the world was instantly at your fingertips.  A project of this magnitude is not only possible, perhaps within our lifetimes, but may even be necessary for our long term survival.  When the need for this is so clear, isn't it a crime that we are focusing our energy on conflict based on ideological differences?  Someone (perhaps you) could start a web-based project that rallies the citizens of the world behind this project.

A Free Education Project
What if citizens of industrialized nations got together to provide free advanced education to the less fortunate citizens of their countries?  For example, here in the United States there are many neighborhoods where the standard of living is quite low. Education is free in these neighborhoods for children, but in many cases the quality of that public education has suffered for various reasons.  What if you opened up a center in those areas, staffed by volunteers with qualifying educations or world-experience, where real-world success skills were taught for free?  Teach those people how to run businesses and manage their own finances and perhaps they can pull themselves, and their families up out of that poverty.

Tree Planting Project
Get a group of 10 people together.  Preferably people of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds.  Get a truck, some garden tools, and some sapling trees.  Go out to a disadvantaged neighborhood and knock on doors.  Tell people you're part of (NAME OF YOUR GROUP) and that you'd like to plant a tree in their yard free of charge.  If they say yes, ask them where they'd like it and plant it for them.  Be sure to spend at least 15 minutes talking to them afterwards and then ask if they'd like to join you on your next tree planting trip.

As you can imagine, there is no limit to the ways Unifying Social Dynamics can be applied.

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