Spencer Heath Archive

Item 960

Pencil notes on 3X5 cards

No date

 

White envelope has items 960 and 961.

 

Basic Social Process:

Two men associate by serving each other — by exchange of services — food and clothing. This doubles their subsistence — binds them together in and as a form of social life. An organized and organic structure and relationship. But let their contact be otherwise than by exchange of service and it is combative and dissociative. The relation is dis-organic. They fall apart, else one or both are destroyed. There are only these two possible relationships — service and conflict, organic and dis-organic. The one can endure, the other cannot. There may be — often is — a mingling of the two relationships. Then the permanence of the arrangement depends on which element predominates — service or conflict.

What is true of two individuals is true also of many and of groups. Their relationships are most often mixed and the members or groups hold together or fall apart according to which relationship most prevails. If they hold together it is because service and exchange most prevail.

But the element of conflict is and can be resolved only in a relation of dominance and subservience within or between social groups. Mutual service alone draws and holds men and societies together in abundance and peace. Without exchange of services there can be only conflict and wars and social and individual decay. There is no alternative relationship, no other process of peace and growth.

Two individuals in process of serving each other is the foundation stone of society. All social growth and integration is but the multiplication and elaboration of this. All the paraphernalia of communications, markets, trade, industry, commerce, banking, finance and even government, in its service aspect (not its dominance), are but means to multiply and facilitate the process of exchanging services among men. — The means to more and wider dimensions in the exchange process.

 

The Four Dimensions of Exchange

Conscious deliberation in exchange introduces barter of goods or services with some idea of equivalence

Straight line process

Present goods between present parties in contact. One-dimensional

Using tokens for uncompleted exchanges introduces breadth by universalizing exchange within the area where the tokens are current. Completing an exchange at many places. This is the second dimension of exchange.

Upon this use of tokens or keeping of accounts arises variety in exchange. The giving of one or few kinds of things and receiving many kinds from many persons. This is a third dimension.

And, further, by use of tokens and accounts exchanges can be completed little by little and in the future at different times according to desire and convenience. Time is thus the fourth dimension of exchange.

Probably it is this four-dimensional character of exchange that makes it the basic creative and spiritual function of the social organization.

It is the social metabolism, the basic process wherefrom the social organism derives every one of its special and specific structures no less than any other organism depends for everything upon its basic metabolism.

Outlining principles only. So will not trace out in detail how the various paraphernalia of business (credit, finance etc etc) contribute to and amplify the exchange process.

Confine to the broader aspects of social organization by which the exchange process is carried on.

Communications

Markets

But all persons are not equally disposed to exchange.

The exchanging group cannot function without places and ways of communication that all alike can use.

Must have public services to enable them to exchange private services.