Ambiarchy and Perfection
Ambiarchy starts with perfection. That is, the political economy of Ambiarchy rests upon and exists within the larger perfection of the Universe, as described in Ambitheism.
According to Ambitheism– the metaphysical premise of Ambiarchy–, the Universe is in a constant state of perfection, a state which always includes both the actual moment and the potential for the next. Perfection here is not intended to mean subjectively perfect, or “good”, but “without flaw.” Everything is as it should be, always. Including your angst, anger, dissatisfaction, etc. That is perfect, too.
The Universe is perfect because it is flawless. What I mean by this is that everything in the past, and all hopes for the future, have so far resulted in the present moment, and it could be no other way than it is now, because of the manner in which it came to be. There is no possibility– beyond subjective interpretation–, only necessity. This necessity is perfectly fulfilled, and never falters.
This is important for Ambiarchist political economy, because it suggests that even the political conditions of today are absolutely necessary, and perfect as they are. Even the things we don’t like.
It’s not perfect and necessary because we like it– that is, because we enjoy the experiences on a subjective level–, but because, with those feelings intact, things are still just as they are, and could be no other way. It adds up perfectly to what we get.
That’s not to suggest that one’s feelings, thoughts, and actions do not have an apparent affect on the world of doxa (despite aletheia telling of another story), but that the extent of these affects are already showing themselves. Further, it is not to suggest that the future doesn’t hold anything different for experience, or apparent opportunities, but rather that the past and present are and were as they must be and have been. The future has a necessary occurrence as well, but we all know the dangers of predicting the future, especially when it regards behavior. We can only use this in the abstract.
For the future to be different, the present must contain or make contact with a potential to change it. We cannot simply repeat the past and expect changes to follow. This is because the Universe on a fundamental level is without mistakes, randomness, possibility, freedom, stochasticity, accidents, etc. The Universe is perfect and necessary, and as such, repeats itself perfectly and necessarily, without error. Any apparent and unexpected change– as with innovation or mutation– must instead be derived from causes hitherto unknown, and novel to the understanding, which too act with perfection.
Novelty of human understanding, of course, should not be confused for novelty of the laws of the Universe. Nonetheless, this novelty of experience is what gives us life. The young boy smiles at his new toy, a young lady thrills in her travels, the tourist awes at the scenery, all new to the senses and to the mind’s eye; the inventor screams, “A-ha!” and the scientist, “Eureka!” These are moments that give meaning to life, motivate us to continue.
This much is clear, but it is much more difficult to swallow the bad parts of perfection. Indeed, perfection has bad parts. Bad to the experience of mortal beings. But this bad is like that within a story, which marks it as tragedy or allows the overcoming of obstacles, and gives it purpose. It is necessary to give definition to life, to allow life to live. Life is the momentary overcoming of fate. Without fate, life would be meaningless.
We must understand bad, then, to be good of a sorts, even if unfavorably so. Bad is an obsolete good, a mistaken good, definition for the good, or an attempt to do good, but is nothing in itself. Bad is negation. It is nothing. And nothing doesn’t exist. Bad doesn’t exist.
Only good exists, but along degrees of success and understanding. It is the degree and direction to which one moves along this spectrum of success and understanding that appears good or not. It’s all degrees of good, higher and lower forms of good. There is no non-good, or living bad, only greater and lesser goods. The lesser good is that of an individual or group when that individual or group attempts to impose its will onto another, only to fail or succumb to it. Lesser good results in lesser will, or fewer wills.
Ambiarchist Acceptance of the Perfection of the State
All throughout the ups and downs, goods and bads, of experiencing change, a constant state of metaphysical perfection is maintained. All of the changes throughout history have, by extension, been perfect and necessary.
In its understanding of perfection, Ambiarchy finds interest in the perfection of the State, particularly as an antagonist to its present form. The State is perfect in that it is a momentary expression of the Universe, which is perfect. By extension, its role is perfect. It is as it should be. It is necessarily not in forms it was not able to have taken, but only the form– and the only one– possible, considering the state of knowledge and demeanors of the actors of the time. Were these different, so too would be the occasion.
As the State was not an accident, but came about perfectly, we are pressed for an explanation, particularly since we find it to be unfavorable in its present form. This explanation can be found in the comprehension of time, particularly the biological arrow of time.
The biological arrow of time runs contrary to the arrow given by entropy toward death and chaos. Living things, rather than simply falling apart or immediately decaying, are inclined– at least for the duration of their life, and especially when young– toward greater order and complexity. The State too, as a body constructed of smaller bodies governed by the biological arrow of time, is governed by it by extension. That is, the biological arrow of time presents a macroniche in Nature for increasing complexity, the filling of which has given us biological and social evolution, including the rise of the State. The niche is there and it must be filled.
What fills it is another story. Nature always has its successions. The woods fill the meadow. One predator displaces another. Ambiarchy replaces republican government. You know how the story goes.
The development of systems runs a natural course. This is reflected, for instance, in the manner that a human fetus always develops along a course of evolution that preceded humanity, clearly having a tail in its early stages, before resembling a human baby. Every individual goes through the steps of evolution, even if expedited. Societies are no different. A new economy, for instance, could be expected to go through certain inevitable stages of development. This is all part of the perfection in Nature’s design.
Like all things in Nature, the Ambiarchy must develop according to the necessary laws of the perfect Universe. It must start with an embryo that looks very much like the embryos of others much different from it, and then it must continue along the course of development as it has been perfected by nature, only coming up with something seemingly novel and good to top it off with, as the future demands.
In recognizing the perfection and necessity of Nature, Ambiarchists understand that the State presents humanity a lesson and a motivator to do better. It’s an obstacle that, while not good, is perfect. It is perfect because the motions within evolution could not occur without it. The State is simply human organization in a primitive form. We must do better in the future.
The State represents a natural occurrence just as anything else does, and like prior stages in evolution, must be developed past and its patterns mimicked over and over again, before anything new can be accomplished, adding the next layer of evolution. It’s perfect because it goes somewhere, even if we don’t like it, and because– owing to entropic and syntropic T-symmetry– there is no waste.
This outlook on the State implies that a non-absolutist approach to things like hierarchy is necessary. This doesn’t mean to intentionally create or sustain class structures, or hierarchies of individuals, but it does allow room for hierarchies of role and function. The ultimate goal of Ambiarchy is to create a society without the political hierarchy of individuals, but with clear, rational, and consensual hierarchies of role and function. But to get there, we cannot simply practice prefigurative organization with people who don’t get it, or who aren’t motivated by it, or who haven’t internalized it. Spiritual growth is a necessary precondition.
Ambiarchists understand that the niche filled by the current State must be filled by an alternative to it, and one which is more successful than it at achieving the ends of good governance, providing social order and organizational structure, but without the hierarchy of persons. Perfect necessity demands that the niche be filled, and the future demands that the new alternative work better, be “good”.
To fill the niche, Ambiarchists fill common roles found in State society, before evolving into something better. This allows enough time for sufficient spiritual growth to occur on behalf of the people, a necessary precondition for a new society. Ambiarchists are not afraid to lead their fellow Ambiarchists (though, never are they to rule over them), nor to govern, or rule over, the apathetic, anti-organizational anarchists, or authoritarian statists. Ambiarchists are meritocratic and vanguardist toward outsiders and in internal form, but are egalitarian and non-hierarchical toward insiders and in substance. Ambiarchy strives to bring all inward and upward, and to bestow the merit previously granted to the State to Society.
