JONATHAN COOK: Conservatives, radicals and pragmatists are all needed
Radicals and conservatives irritate each other, but each needs the other
Systemic or ecological thinking tells us that any organisation needs flexibility to respond to changes in its environment through effective feedback processes. Like organisms adapting to changes in the physical environment, those organisations that adapt to the changing socioeconomic environment survive. Those that don’t go extinct.
Consider this alongside a useful concept that came to me as a student from an unexpected source — John Cumpsty, then a professor in the University of Cape Town department of religious studies. He described the development of religious tradition as an interplay between the traditional, represented by the priest, idealistic represented by the prophet, and pragmatic represented by the king. ..
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