[iDC] The Mystery of Reciprocity

[Michel Bauwens]

*Hi Brian,*

Thanks for your piece on emulation. That point about Girard rejoins one of
my own's basic conclusions about life's experience, after a lot of failed
communal attempts in my youth, that there is an important need for a
transcendent goal. I do not think that any human community, including and
importantly 'marriage', can work without it, there is always that need for
an extra something else that allows one to go beyond  the purely personal
interest.

Not sure if it is related, or has been discussed before, but I often use the
concept of equipotentiality in my p2p presentations, and I particularly like
the expression of this value by Jorge Ferre.

"*equals in the sense of their being both superior and inferior to
themselves in varying skills and areas of endeavor (intellectually,
emotionally, artistically, mechanically, interpersonally, and so forth), but
with none of those skills being absolutely higher or better than others*. It
is important to experience human equality from this perspective to avoid
trivializing our encounter with others as being merely equal." (
http://www.estel.es/EmbodiedParticipationInTheMystery,%201espace.doc)

The full quote:

"An integrative and embodied spirituality would effectively undermine the
current model of human relations based on comparison, which easily leads to
competition, rivalry, envy, jealousy, conflict, and hatred. When individuals
develop in harmony with their most genuine vital potentials, human
relationships characterized by mutual exchange and enrichment would
naturally emerge because people would not need to project their own needs
and lacks onto others. More specifically, the turning off of the comparing
mind would dismantle the prevalent hierarchical mode of social
interaction—paradoxically so extended in spiritual circles—in which people
automatically look upon others as being either superior or inferior, as a
whole or in some privileged respect. This model—which ultimately leads to
inauthentic and unfulfilling relationships, not to mention hubris and
spiritual narcissism—would naturally pave the way for an I-Thou mode of
encounter in which people would experience others as *equals in the sense of
their being both superior and inferior to themselves in varying skills and
areas of endeavor (intellectually, emotionally, artistically, mechanically,
interpersonally, and so forth), but with none of those skills being
absolutely higher or better than others. It is important to experience human
equality from this perspective to avoid trivializing our encounter with
others as being merely equal.* It also would bring a renewed sense of
significance and excitement to our interactions because we would be
genuinely open to the fact that not only can everybody learn something
important from us, but we can learn from them as well. In sum, an integral
development of the person would lead to a "horizontalization of love." We
would see others not as rivals or competitors but as unique embodiments of
the Mystery, in both its immanent and transcendent dimension, who could
offer us something that no one else could offer and to whom we could give
something that no one else could give." (
http://www.estel.es/EmbodiedParticipationInTheMystery,%201espace.doc)

I see dignitarianism as an expression of this new ethos (
http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Rankism).

Once we accept equipotentiality as the new formulation of the ideal of
equality (except that is now also already a really existing practice), we
can reformulate our vision of leadership and hierarchy.

John Heron expresses this very well:

The underlying logic of development in which the emergence of P2P is best
understood, may be by viewing 'participation' as the key variable, seeing
how it intensifies historically in various social formations.

"There seem to be at least four degrees of cultural development, rooted in
degrees of moral insight and not in an evolutionary logic:

(1) autocratic cultures which define rights in a limited and oppressive way
and there are no rights of political participation;

(2) narrow democratic cultures which practice political participation
through representation, but have no or very limited participation of people
in decision-making in all other realms, such as research, religion,
education, industry etc.;


(3) wider democratic cultures which practice both political participation
and varying degree of wider kinds of participation;

(4) commons p2p cultures in a libertarian and abundance-oriented global
network with equipotential rights of participation of everyone in every
field of human endeavour"


Heron adds that "These four degrees could be stated in terms of the
relations between hierarchy, co-operation and autonomy.

(1) Hierarchy defines, controls and constrains co-operation and autonomy;

(2) Hierarchy empowers a measure of co-operation and autonomy in the
political sphere only;

(3) Hierarchy empowers a measure of co-operation and autonomy in the
political sphere and in varying degrees in other spheres;

(4) The sole role of hierarchy is in its spontaneous emergence in the
initiation and continuous flowering of autonomy-in-co-operation in all
spheres of human endeavor

.
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