COOPERATION IS PROFITABLE

part of my new - ELITE MANAGEMENT THEORY series

Personal interests are paramount – most important.

The smaller the cooperating group is the better it reflects member’s interests.

(Obviously, the minimal group of one person reflects that person’s interests perfectly.)

The larger the cooperating group is the more powerful the group is and the less it reflects personal interests.

Groups of comparable sizes can have different levels of power depending on the participants.

Therefore logically elites form – smaller groups of more powerful people who tend to dominate larger groups.

There is a quirk though. An aristocrat - a member (or potential member) of the elite may appeal to the masses – a larger and therefore more powerful group of people and topple the ruling elite to establish his or her own rule – eventually creating its own elite group of people who are more powerful just because they are closer to the leader one way or another and for different reasons.

Two theories have emerged to address that – Plato/Aristotle’s aristocratic communism - the guardians (Turkish Sultans, Lenin) and but who will guard the guardians – obviously nobody and the whole idea of philosopher kings* (regardless of some remarkable examples of ethical leadership) generally failed, and that brought to the emergence of liberalism.

Liberalism at first everything seemed (and still seems fine) – liberal democracy shall account for the interests of all members of society or citizens and the free market economy should provide for the satisfaction of never ending increase of needs and expectations. The brilliance and attractiveness of the liberal ideas culminating in the US Declaration of Independence a document unsurpassed not only for its historical significance but also for its synthesis of current political thought.

Attempts to analyse humanity based on generalisations may dangerously mislead those who pursue them because the essence and power of humanity is diversity.

On the other hand, cooperation provides a decisive advantage and we can safely assume that the current people are those with ancestors who have cooperated more successfully than those who cooperated less effectively and subsequently perished.