The uncivil man
Concentration of resources of any sort makes possible larger undertakings, but also makes possible parasitism on a grand scale. When other parties have concentrated resources and inevitably fall prey to despotism, it is necessary to concentrate resources in order to resist annexation. This resource arms-race leads to nations and cities.
Centralisation has a number of advantages, but there are also major drawbacks to centralisation of large scale operations. An optimal degree of centralisation exists for any circumstance, and an optimal scale of operation exists for a given degree of centralisation.
One reason to limit size is the overheads of administration. This can be overcome to a degree using decentralisation via cellular automation. This is why capitalist regimes last longer than communist ones – capitalism decentralises resource management using an economic model. This reduces the complexity of the problem at every stage of planning, and reduces decision lag.
Another reason is to avoid creating opportunities for corruption.
It is important not to exceed either of these limits, but a combination of greed, stupidity and desire for personal aggrandisement typically has every successful organisation barrelling headlong past its optimal size. Ironically, ever more central control is touted as the solution for growing inefficiencies. The true solutions are contraction and decentralisation.
It is easy to demonstrate the truth of these assertions. If my “don’t build big complex systems, build lots of small semiautonomous systems that interact, and handle the whole as a comparatively simple emergent system” approach is valid then natural systems that work like this should be successful, stable and widespread. And they are: the simpler the life-form, the larger a portion of the biomass it constitutes.
This is not to say that we should give up and let the algae take over. I just mean we should recognise the wisdom of simplicity, and stand within the bow.