Class Analysis and COIN

[wm]

Good question. I think those classes are roughly comparable to the court jester's of the feudal age, though today they are certainly more wealthy and more famous. In this sense, I think what is important is that those classes are dependent on the patronage of the elite and wealthy business/political leaders. Therefore to some degree the entertainer classes project the four masks.

I think a better analogy is to the gladiators of ancient Rome or the Charioteers of Byzantium. I suspect that members of the "entertainment classes" in many countries have a much stronger affinity with the common people than with the wealthy. (BTW, I think this is true in the US.)

How does one explain that pro sports figures and actors/actresses get away with the kinds of scandalous and down-right illegal behaviors that would put the common person behind bars for a long time? I suspect it is allowed as a form of anti-hero behavior that gives the great mass of folks an opportunity to be vicariously "naughty" without fear of reprisal.

[Ron Humphrey]

I think a better analogy is to the gladiators of ancient Rome or the Charioteers of Byzantium. I suspect that members of the "entertainment classes" in many countries have a much stronger affinity with the common people than with the wealthy. (BTW, I think this is true in the US.)

How does one explain that pro sports figures and actors/actresses get away with the kinds of scandalous and down-right illegal behaviors that would put the common person behind bars for a long time? I suspect it is allowed as a form of anti-hero behavior that gives the great mass of folks an opportunity to be vicariously "naughty" without fear of reprisal.

IMHO there really needs to be a recognition of the fact that technological, social, monetary, and other changes in the global society as a whole have led to a plethura of newly designated "class" like groups within which the entire spectrum exist. Aside from the examples you referenced consider Geekdom for one. Groups built on relationship to a given skillset, you have your hero's and villains, your rich your poor, highly educated and not so educated, etc.

Or how about the socio-political implications from fame developed through new media?

[AmericanPride]

Addendum to my argument (and then I will explain my answer(s) to wm's and Ron's questions/statements):

Every society has a 'hub of power' (similar in concept to Clausewitz's center of gravity). This is the thing or sum of things from which power is derived. It can be a characteristic, locality, resource, or capability, or any combination of those things. Essentially, it's the centerpiece that holds a system together. The hub has an orbit within which (its 'reach') move about various classes. The power of a class is determined by its relationship/proximity to the hub and other classes. Some classes may have such a proximity that they are able to project their own influencers upon the hub itself (i.e. patrons). Some classes have no impact whatsoever (alienated classes; slaves). Some are in between (plebs). The more similar classes' proximity, the more competitive and democratic the society. The more dissimilar, the more submissive and autocratic the society. Beyond the hub's orbit is everything outside that society. Some hubs' orbits may be small or large, or overlap with one another. Hubs attract classes like moths to flame. The classes then use the four masks to justify/explain their conditions, their actions, and their relationships. The classes closest to the hub distribute resources, knowledge, wealth, and prestige according to the values they define for the masks in justification of their own position, building systems of patronage. The patronage systems are reflected in the masks. Sometimes the patronage is deliberate (i.e. Saudi Arabia), sometimes its ad hoc (United States IMO), and sometimes its unintentional.

Using that model, I'd explain the privilege of entertainers and athletes as a function of their patronage. They get away with it because they can.

[slapout9]

Addendum to my argument (and then I will explain my answer(s) to wm's and Ron's questions/statements):

Every society has a 'hub of power' (similar in concept to Clausewitz's center of gravity). This is the thing or sum of things from which power is derived. It can be a characteristic, locality, resource, or capability, or any combination of those things. Essentially, it's the centerpiece that holds a system together. The hub has an orbit within which (its 'reach') move about various classes. The power of a class is determined by its relationship/proximity to the hub and other classes. Some classes may have such a proximity that they are able to project their own influencers upon the hub itself (i.e. patrons). Some classes have no impact whatsoever (alienated classes; slaves). Some are in between (plebs). The more similar classes' proximity, the more competitive and democratic the society. The more dissimilar, the more submissive and autocratic the society. Beyond the hub's orbit is everything outside that society. Some hubs' orbits may be small or large, or overlap with one another. Hubs attract classes like moths to flame. The classes then use the four masks to justify/explain their conditions, their actions, and their relationships. The classes closest to the hub distribute resources, knowledge, wealth, and prestige according to the values they define for the masks in justification of their own position, building systems of patronage. The patronage systems are reflected in the masks. Sometimes the patronage is deliberate (i.e. Saudi Arabia), sometimes its ad hoc (United States IMO), and sometimes its unintentional.

Using that model, I'd explain the privilege of entertainers and athletes as a function of their patronage. They get away with it because they can.

AmPride, you may not realize this but what you just said is almost straight from one of Colonel Warden's classes on his 5 rings analysis about systems. In general I think you are very much on to something. Keep explaining it if you don't mind. How would you operationalize this? This is one of most detailed Fractal analysis of Ring 4 Population Groups I have seen...again good stuff!

[marct]

Every society has a 'hub of power' (similar in concept to Clausewitz's center of gravity). This is the thing or sum of things from which power is derived.

AmPride, you may not realize this but what you just said is almost straight from one of Colonel Warden's classes on his 5 rings analysis about systems.

Hi AmPride,

As a note, it is also almost straight out of the concept of the axis mundi.

BTW, if you haven't run across him already, you might want to track down some of the work by Michel Maffesoli, especially The Time of the Tribes.

[AmericanPride]

Slap and marct,

Thanks for the references. I don't completely understand the concept of axis mundi. My 'inspiration' for the hub of power was Clausewitz's center of gravity, but with the realization that the social environment is non-linear.

How would you operationalize this?

I had updated the ppt presentation I had sent to you to include additions to IPB and targeting. I think it will be most effective to add a new step (a new 'Step 2') to describe the social environment. This will provide a social decision template to map the relationship between the social factors and their influence on the decision-makers and their choices. In turn, this will enable both more accurate predictive analysis and 'structural targeting' aimed at the four foundations of the social structure (the hub of power, classes, the relationships between classes, and the relationships between classes and the hub).

[marct]

Hi AP,

I had updated the ppt presentation I had sent to you to include additions to IPB and targeting.

I wouldn't mind taking a look at it if you can toss it my way.

I think it will be most effective to add a new step (a new 'Step 2') to describe the social environment. This will provide a social decision template to map the relationship between the social factors and their influence on the decision-makers and their choices. In turn, this will enable both more accurate predictive analysis and 'structural targeting' aimed at the four foundations of the social structure (the hub of power, classes, the relationships between classes, and the relationships between classes and the hub).

I'm going to play social theoretician here for a minute...

In order to have a predictive analysis capability, you need a database and a very clearly defined model. One of the problems with all types of "class" analysis (actually, that is a sub-set of ascriptive group analysis and tends to be very reductionist) is that they tend to be very poor at the individual level, so figuring out "their influence on decision-makers" will be extremely tricky.

You talk about "relationships" between various groups, but how are you structuring your categorization of "relationships"? This is really tricky, since such categorizations often assume cultural norms that can render an analytic technique useless or, at least, less effective, outside of the boundaries of that culture (or culture area). I'm thinking of one particular case in point where the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies model was disproven in the Canadian context (it don't work because "class" in Canada is extremely different from "class" in the UK).