10 The Socium of Small Groups

10.1 The Answer

Now, in respect to social structures corresponding to the last analysed trends — I want to emphasize now one aspect noted all along — the aspect of “small groups.” The trends of increasing roles of creativity, dialogue, personal self-determination in all social spheres, starting with production, in general, happen in small groups. Thus my central point and conclusion and answer to the question where our civilization goes is:

Our civilization develops into a “Socium of Small Groups.” I use the term “socium” about the same way it is used in Russian spoken tradition: As “society” in somewhat more general terms. For example, “socium of culture” means all authors and the entire system of specific social relationships, works, attitudes, etc. determined by and within culture.

Before we continue — just a few words on what a small group is. A small group does not need a leader. Members of a small group are equal and all are necessary in their differences and capacities to do what the group gathered for. Psychologically, a small group consists of no more than seven members, eight — at most.

What we are going to do further is, first, try to decode my conclusion-prediction. We will need naturally, second, to identify the major obstacles on the way to the future. Third, we can try to fantasize what could be done for a bloodless (as much as possible) transmutation from now to then.

10.2 Should I understand My Conclusion?

My job with this paper could be considered done. The difficult logical part, at least, is over. The following text is a relaxing exercise, genre is undetermined.

So, the question naturally is what could it mean “The Socium of Small Groups?”

First, I have to remind and emphasize the formula in discussion came up actually as a logical conclusion, an inevitable result of, say, calculations based on certain assumptions and rules presented. That is, we have certain premises and, respectively, the conclusion made out of the premises. The premises may be questioned, of course, they can be put in doubt, they could be confronted but if they are not, or, say, while they are not or until they are, the conclusion must be taken and accepted as the perfect truth.

Second, the formula came up as is. It cannot be otherwise formulated given the premises. That is, I myself may not understand it and, in fact, am not obliged to. I had to conclude and accept it nolens volens, regardless. And, respectively, I challenge potential opponents: If you doubt the conclusion — start with the premises (competition <=> automation <=> creativity….)

10.3 What Could It Be “The Socium of Small Groups?”

The answer? First, I don’t know. Second, I can fantasize about it. Third, I’ll try. I also invite everyone who likes the sound of it to participate.

Here are my first fantasies, rather abstract, quite formal and very liberal.

In general, small group will become the fundamental unit a society is built on. In other words, the society will turn into a web of small groups, their interrelations and interactions.

Consequently, the society will (must) appreciate, promote, support, defend, help along, etc. small groups. Small groups must feel most welcome, utmost comfortable, ultimately supported in order to be capable of doing what they gathered for (minus criminal activities).

Competition among small groups is, evidently, competition at the totally free market and, therefore, is the free market’s purest implementation.

The society makes sure that competition must not produce monopolies or even big entities of any kind controlled by bureaucracies. Any potential expansion will mean emergence of new small groups related to the “expanding” entity.

10.4 Small Groups, Big Guys, Freedom & Law

It is time to recall that we generally investigated two major trends pushing our civilization in opposite directions. The first was uncontrolled monopolization which leaded to the Crude Communism. The second was ever increasing productivity which leaded to the Socium of small groups. Which trend is to take over?

It seems reasonable to me, although it sounds fantastic the second trend will take over, and, respectively, the Socium of Small Groups is that what awaits us. On the other hand, it is obvious, that big guys will not give up easily. As for now we can only speculate over the topic…

10.4.1 Small Groups Versus Big Guys

A small group may happen to be at loggerheads with some big guys while they still exist. Who are those big guys, by the way? We can think about governments or government’s agencies, large businesses or NGOs. In general, we talk, first, about large establishments managed by bureaucracy, and/or, second, monopolies of any nature.

In a situation of contradiction or just overlapping of a small group’s and a big guy’s activities or even intentions the big guy can have two interrelated weapons in its disposal to overcome the small group: not-in-good-faith competition and direct suppression based on law. That issue gives us a clue (an abstract in the beginning) on possible requirements for law. If we, the people, the society, want future to come faster and easier we need a law to be the most unfavourable for big guys and the most favourable toward small groups.

10.4.2 The Socium of Freedom

You probably noticed that yet another face of the civilization to come was peeking out between lines from the very beginning and the face was: Freedom. First clue we pondered — that of old Marx — was about laborer who changes for better at one’s free time. We are talking about freedom while we are talking about creativity — these are two faces of the same coin. We were talking about free human communication — dialogue as a key aspect of creativity. We were talking about civilization of personalities — human individuals able to be free in their action regardless circumstances — I didn’t give this definition before but would you mind? We mentioned culture as a means of self-determination. Finally, small group is a group gathered at will to do what its members want to do. Yes, we were actually revolving around ultimate human freedom, looking in its different faces all along.

I am not going to discuss this aspect specifically, for all the related rationale may sound, on the one hand — banal and, on the other — unconvincing. Although it is a huge philosophical matter, it resonates with any sane human. Maybe it is so just because freedom is a defining feature of the human nature. Ever increasing freedom of individual human being is what culture is about and what civilization seeks in its development. No matter how it looks on the surface this is what happens in depth throughout the history. Ultimate individual freedom is the point where culture and civilization are going to meet in the future, maybe sooner than we could expect.

So, it turns out that we are talking about our future also as the Socium of Freedom. Therefore, the answer to the question which trend out of two, toward Crude Communism or Socium of Small Groups will prevail seems to be obvious: Small groups will. That, in my view, entails the following: Those societies which go along with the prevailing trend toward ultimate individual freedom simple do blossom already (to a degree) and will blossom in the future. Those not to go along willingly, change and will change unwillingly but with pain and blood shed or they will die.

Freedom is the essence here. And freedom is an issue while new society is in the state of becoming and thus must be protected and promoted by the socium.

10.4.3 Social Contract

We can contemplate a society at different aspects: its structure, or direction of development, or specific features, etc. In any case, we need to look into a law or, say, among-people agreement to embody those structure, direction of development, specific features, etc.

If we talk, for example, about “free society” we need corresponding law to set society free — based on what we understand as the freedom.

Furthermore, when we talk about a “law” we imply a mechanism to enforce that law. How it ought be enforced depends on the law. The enforcement is not necessarily about some “traditional force,” however oddly this sounds. What is needed, obviously, is the will of people and, particularly, “ruling” ones, if any, to appreciate and abide the corresponding “law” or “social contract,” or whatever you name it.

For example, if we fantasize about a society where there not elite supposed to be in power we respectively need to come up with some among-people contract to make development of elites impossible. We, respectively, would need some kind of the contract enforcement, which could possibly be just people’s will to upheld it. If we don’t want big guys to develop we need a law to make that impossible in the future and in the past, that is — to do away with, whatever that could mean, existing big guys.

To make the long story short a law doesn’t necessarily mean law “oppressing freedom” as such. Law is meant to frame that society you want. Let it be the society of ultimate freedom — it needs a legal framework to be based on, so that nothing could undermine the ultimate freedom. Again, we don’t need to think about a law and law enforcement in a way we know them today. It all may look totally different from anything we can imagine but this doesn’t eliminate the idea.

10.5 Platforms

Talking about socium as a web of small groups we see the necessity of, first and foremost, a specific communication environment. I see two determinative aspects here: People need an ability to find one another, to organize in small groups and act based on a project/topic; And small groups need an ability to find one another, to organize their activities and cooperate based on their projects’ mutual necessity. Roughly speaking, some people love to come up with ideas, some love to implement those. Some prefer to produce, some — to mediate, some love to heal, some — to teach, some — do sports, some — train, and so forth.

Furthermore, it is obvious that teaching and gardening require different means. This puts forward certain requirements to said above environments. They must be a subject/topic oriented. Let us call those environments “platforms.” Then we can imagine a socium of small groups as a flexible system of interrelated and interacting platforms. I am not talking about necessarily technical implementations, specifically — digital, internet, web or other protocols based. I am talking about the idea. Its implementation is a side dish for the moment. In short, a platform must be constructed and function in correspondence to: First, general principles discussed thus far; Second, specific subject to deal with.

In other words, a platform is:

1. Topic oriented, meaning it has to provide all necessary tools to solve certain problems or reach certain goals or provide specific by-subject defined conditions.

2. To be utmost convenient for individuals to find and connect one another based on a project or topic.

3. To provide tools for organization, communication and (business) cooperation among small groups.

4. To provide interface with other platforms.

5. To support Social Contract.

6. All in all, to implement ultimate freedom there. Freedom and ability for self-determination. That means no bureaucracy either inside a platform, nor in-between platforms.

We can, for example, expect emergence of a “judgement platform,” or “manufacturing platforms,” “supply chains platforms,” “trading platforms,” research, education, health care, etc. — all interrelated, logically and logistically… Actually we observe their emergence already.

It is my understanding that platforms corresponding to six above listed requirements will become fundamental “institutions” of the coming civilization. In the “end” they will become the only institutions the society will be comprised of.

11 Pointing Out to Future

11.1 Particular Trends

Now, I want to turn to some (just a few, and, probably not even the most significant) contemporary social trends and modern technologies, sometimes interrelated, which demonstrate increasing role of creativity, dialogue, individual self-determination, freedom of action, and decreasing bureaucracy. I our investigation these trends revealed themselves as interrelated … in the future. This is not the case yet as we see in the examples listed below:

• Social networks
• Open source software
• Open business models
• Open licensing
• Flesh mobbing
• Crowd-sourcing
• Distributed manufacturing
• Block chain technologies
• Disruptive small businesses
• Start-ups

Let’s say a few words about each of them.

11.2 Social Networks

There people join in and communicate within groups. You pick up who you want to communicate with. Without delving in theory — those choices are value based. People who do not share a group’s values are not tolerated, as a matter of rule. While a group is small members do talk. If and when the group grows communication becomes chaotic, random and ineffective. It turns into primitive exchanges, still value based. Which, theoretically, is a problem. If all our calculations about civilization to come are right, some social networks will become effective place for creativity and dialogue, that is, for functioning of small groups and thus will respond to global trends. The fate of others I cannot predict but the majority will surely die.

11.3 Open Source Software

This movement represents a wide variety of entities, motives and products, globally. OSS is created for different reasons: as a pure act of creativity (in other words, as a service to humankind), or just because it is needed for the creator, which implies use of others’ work too, or for commercial reasons. Ideas of OSS meet a very powerful response within the global community of programmers and that is indicative. It structures all by itself in groups gathered at will based on a project. And every OS project becomes a community tied together via dialogue. An observable trend inside OSS movement is that if communication in a group becomes a problem for any reason their project dies. The affinity OSS and the “economy of free time” is obvious. Theoretically, their direction of development is to turn into effective webs of small groups.

11.4 Open Business Models

OBM are known these days mostly as on-line platforms, which allow participating entities exchange designs, inventions, other creative works and use them for doing business (Made with Creative Commons. By Paul Stacey & Sarah Hinchliff Pearson. Ctrl+Alt+Delete Books, 2017). A platform thus accumulates a pool of said works in common use. They are used as ideal part of material products and services provided by the platform members on and for their own.

What is interesting there? The general approach when creative works are not turned into “Intellectual property” but get shared while everyone can make a business. We haven’t discussed the specific issue of “Intellectual property” yet but we will, later on.

OBMs, as a matter of rule, are not intended venues for dialogue. The latter, in my view or, to be accurate, in view of the theory developed in the paper, restricts their more effective functioning and development.

11.5 Flesh Mobbing

People get together for one time action, a project of any nature. The defining feature here is, on the one hand, exercising freedom, on the other — solving a problem. Normally, a flesh mob is a value based and does not openly promotes among-”mobsters” communication. So, flesh mobbing looks like one of the calls from the future because of its freedom based nature but does not know itself yet, philosophically speaking. It will come to itself when ingrains small groups based on dialogue or, all the same, dialogue based on small groups.

11.6 Distributed Manufacturing

That happens when a growing business instead of creation of a manufacturing behemoth sticks to relatively small relatively independent facilities and on the whole acts as a network. In the future to come such a small facility can develop into a venue for dialogue which provokes creativity and this is the direction to develop in.

11.7 Block Chain Technologies

This is an exceptional phenomenon. As such they exclude human administration, meaning BCT are anti-bureaucracy in principle and for that exact reason are extremely humane! Although BCT cover a relatively narrow area of logistics, namely — secure transactions, in that area they amount to pure technical implementation, expression and direct support of human freedom and thus amount to an effective tool providing for creativity and self-determination. Therefore their use will increase as much as the subject they cover extends, and because of that said subject will extend into areas which we cannot even imagine today.

11.8 Disruptive Small Businesses

The most direct call from the near future. I am talking about businesses developed by small groups of individuals who love to do what they do, regardless market conditions including competition from big guys. They are natural venues for creativity and dialogue which allows me prediction for this trend to get steam and become the major trend in the near future. Specifically, the trend translates into situation when services a small business needs in order to function will be increasingly provided by small businesses, as well, in the end — by small businesses only.

11.9 Start-ups

Even if we wouldn’t observe any explosion of start-ups these days we would had to predict such an explosion coming in all areas of human activities in near future. It is no brainier to foresee an explosion of new ideas interrelated with new technologies interrelated with new products and services interrelated with new businesses interrelated with new markets. Yes, obviously, all new:

ideas <=> technologies <=> products & services <=> businesses <=> markets <=> …

But we do observe it already! The power of the explosion is different in different areas geographically and topically. We do see it in communication, transportation, delivery, biotech, pharmaceutics, agriculture, materials, even simple house tools, and(!) in new … areas, which get invented (Internet of Things, just for example). I do not mention software for in that area innovation is the very way of its existence and this fact has permeated our consciousness as being something self-evident.

11.10 Instead of a Summary

I want to make a small step back now just to state that, in terms of logic, I was and am totally satisfied with the big picture developed from ideas presented by Marx and Bibler. Specific phenomena-trends I brought in above could be interpreted in many ways. I believe that my interpretation is correct although neither of the above pondered phenomena features all aspects of future. The theory insists that all interrelated features (small group, creativity, dialogue…) call for one another and will come together sooner or later in any and all social phenomena. This is the general trend to define future. And thus defined future might come sooner than we could imagine.

PS. The rest of the work:

Part 1. Free Market, Monopolies, Crude Communism: https://medium.com/where-does-this-world-go/part-1-8c68d5030757?source=friends_link&sk=7613c0f6aadbb17b89a2b35a0b0195d9

Part 2. Ideals, Reality, Fantasy. Where to Go?: https://medium.com/where-does-this-world-go/the-future-of-civilization-ii-1210d5a0db78?source=friends_link&sk=eded6e79c22067840822f958b3c939f8

Part 3. Ideal Solution, My Wishes, Problem Statement: https://medium.com/where-does-this-world-go/the-future-of-civilization-iii-1548e4295352?source=friends_link&sk=d0f93e2c44f54b06de26480be38f3be2

Part 4. Economy of Free Time, Dialogue of Cultures, Etc.: https://medium.com/where-does-this-world-go/future-of-civilization-iv-57ec15b2d7f0?source=friends_link&sk=041a84363733649a47b403fa4fde98a2

Part 5. Culture, Civilization & Automation: https://medium.com/where-does-this-world-go/the-future-of-civilization-5-4ea72ac2f705?source=friends_link&sk=1b8017e58afa7f33c5120dd73f879f27

Part 6. Socium of Small Groups, Socium of Freedom

Part 7. Transition from Present to Future: https://medium.com/@anatolyvolynets/the-future-of-civilization-vii-60e7220ae250

Part 8. The Disease of Intellectual Property: https://medium.com/@anatolyvolynets/67ef8718113c?source=friends_link&sk=1da4f7c199d2c8e08f2b20b84d7d5682