Societism

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Societism promotes the well being of the group without sacrificing the significance of the individual. Unlike individualism that merely represents self interest, Societism represents the collective interest of a group such as "we the people." A concept expressed by the founding fathers of the United States of America in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Societism maintains that by combining the individual efforts of many, collaborative synergy can elevate their voices above the influence of self-interest groups to improve both individual and overall societal goals dramatically. Through the centuries, the principals of Societism were discussed by the earliest aboriginal peoples in their use of the "circle of life," that we are all connected, in one big, unbreakable circle.
"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."

The need to contribute to society was mentioned in the Jewish Talmud and in the . "Societism, or the doctrine that man's cosmic value lies in his membership in and contribution to human society; that his individual self is certainly an end-in-itself, yet more ennobled, and hence conditioned, by its subjection to humanity as an end-in-itself."
Leading political thinkers including Edmund Burke, John Locke and others mentioned the need to collectively work together to control the limits of government. James Madison, who wrote most of the Bill of Rights, clarifying the limitations of government wrote:
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.
The first known use of the word Societism was in the title of a book written and published by James Locke Batchelder, (1816-1909), a licensed Baptist preacher and publisher who wrote many sermons, including an essay on "Societism, and the Instrumentality of Indivuduals and Churches in the World’s Evangelization." However, both plates and the books in print were destroyed in of 1871. Batchelder was an educated and independent thinking man who immediately after graduation from Amherst College in 1843, became principal of the Townshend Female Academy at Townshend, Vermont and who in 1844, organized a high school for colored children and who being against slavery had emancipated some 30 slaves.
Durkheim's societism was like the similar "societism" developing within all the other religions in France of Durkheim's day. In fact, none was as much affected by the nationalist tide as the Catholics, who had been marginalized by a cronically anticlerical France. Like the Jews, the Catholics stemmed from an ancient tradition of religious societism."
Social philosophy
Societism may be characterized as a form of enlightened self-interest, a natural outcome or outgrowth of responsible individualism. The next level of self-interested, yet collective action that represents an alternative to the Tyranny of the Majority that is represented by Socialism.

The honey bee, viewed as a unit, in the perfection of his individual powers and capacities, would be individualism; but the hive in its social aspects and activities, in associated action, with common ends and interests, and in which aspect alone the object for which bees were created is discerned, would be societism. natural behavior, which may over time become complacent, apathetic and immune to public and corporate representation.
Economic principles
The economic principals of Societism generally follow the Austrian School of economic thought. Advocating laisse faire economic principals of limited government and Austrian Business Cycle Theory. Austrian economists view entrepreneurship as the driving force in economic development, see private property as essential to the efficient use of resources, and usually see government interference in market processes as counterproductive.
"Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. This is no accident. The inherent difficulties of the subject would be great enough in any case, but they are multiplied a thousandfold by factor that is insignificant in, say, physics, mathematics or medicine—the special pleadings of selfish interests. While every group has certain economic interests identical with those of all groups, every group has also, as we shall see, interests antagonistic to those of all other groups. While certain public policies would in the long run benefit everybody, other policies would benefit one group only at the expense of all other groups. The group that would benefit by such policies, having such a direct interest in them, will argue for them plausibly and persistently. It will hire the best buyable minds to devote their whole time to presenting its case. And it will finally either convince the general public that its case is sound, or so befuddle it that clear thinking in the subject becomes next to impossible.". Achievement of these goals require ongoing trade-offs and compromise. Members of a particular society need to develop analytical skills to be able to assess economic issues and proposed governmental policies in light of these goals.
Political basis
By definition the foundational concept of Societism is non-partisan. Libertarian in fostering freedom of choice, encouraging individuals to each work in their own self-interest. Democratic in asserting the right of citizens to govern themselves through majority rule. Republican where those who each make the effort to fractionally raise the tide, will ride the forefront of each wave and be the first to reap its benefits.
Societism is precluded from degeneration into anarchy, sometimes associated with certain forms of Libertarianism and Democracies, by consideration of, and attention to the good of society as a whole. By assuming personal responsibility for systemic growth, Societism puts an end to finger pointing by opposing camps playing the blame game. Societism supports the general concepts of political liberalism, encompassing support for: freedom of thought and speech, and paleoconservative limitations on the powers of government, affirming an individual's right to private property, and the rule of law, and a transparent system of government.
James Madison, an American politician and political philosopher who served as the fourth President of the United States (1809-1817), presciently identified Societism when he said, “The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary.″
Even though individual motives may be primarily self-centered, social good derived as a byproduct of collective participation in a political process can potentially be enormous.
Criticism
Societism has been criticized as a foreign concept driven by Non-Governmental Organizations implementing Western ideology from those who espouse a dialectical socialist viewpoint. Critics of the principals of Societism as it relates to the Austrian school of economic thought cite its rejection of the use of scientific method and empirical testing in social sciences in favor of self-evident axioms and logical reasoning.
Postmodern phenomena
The free and open discussions of the town hall meeting are being restored through new web applications such as forums, blogs and wikis. Through these web 2.0 enabling technologies, individuals are able to learn for themselves by doing their own independent research, and challenge the information warfare and organized marketing campaigns that have been waged against them by entrenched interests of the twentieth century corporatocracy.
"Capacity to tear down the consumption - production dichotomy, replacing it with plastic affluence and endogenous social relations premised on community involvement. Where societism can be decoupled from its economic facet."
"Free as in free beer... The possibility that productive cooperation and the enactment of production in social networks no longer require the mediation of the capitalist in order to be effectuated — a presupposition of post-industrial capitalism that some theorists refer to as the Communism of Capital — is compelling enough to tremble the earth. ... A real-world demonstration of this phenomenon is provided by the development and organisational model at work in several large free-software and open-source projects, such as the Linux operating system. In fact, many look into networks of collaborative free software and open source development for a practical demonstration of how the new emancipated society will be organised.
... On the other hand, it is common to underestimate the effect of such a paradigm of (im)material production on consciousness and subjectivity. In editing or hacking the Linux kernel, for instance, people are, consciously or not, educating themselves in what creative, collaborative work really consists. The realm of such networks of cooperative development is underpinned by the pleasure principle: people re-discover that products of unparalleled social and technical ingenuity can result from a production process that is founded on volunteer contributions; they re-discover the joy and personal fulfilment(sic) that accompanies creative work.
On this plane, collective subjectivity is impregnated with the sperm of radicality, as people are suddently (sic) becoming aware of the reversal of perspective that lies in the shadows: a production setting in which people are using the tools that they have themselves built to create situations they individually desire is always bound to outperform in efficiency and expose the poverty of production effectuated for the sake of profit. A direct confrontation stretching from the terrain of ideas to the very institutional nucleus of capitalist society is underway. "

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