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The Holonomous Approach
The holonomous approach considers the interests of all parties involved before a decision is made. It is only with this more inclusive approach that enough truth is known to arrive at lasting solutions that will restore unity.
With this approach, we must consider the competing interests that give rise to the policy issue—who wants what and why? This is the cogs and wheels of the issue, where papers that dispense rights and responsibilities (or take them away) are written by courts, money is appropriated by the legislative body for one thing at the expense of another, and the executive branch writes regulations that provide the policy detail, often reflecting its particular interests.
Unforeseen and often undesired consequences can easily occur if the whole is not considered, for whenever a policy shifts power in one direction, it is lost somewhere else. We must look to all sides. What is the relative importance of competing interests within the whole? How will those directly involved, as well as the community at large, be affected if the policy issue is decided one way, as opposed to another? Will one lead to greater harmony and another to greater discord?
There are various ways to examine aspects of a policy issue that lead to a better understanding of the whole, and they involve bringing the pieces of the policy pie together. The goal is to get at the core, the heart of the policy and understand how it really works. See How to Deconstruct Political Arguments for various tactics used to disguise the real stuff, and monomorality and dual morality for the underlying approaches in political action.
A holonomous approach is far more likely to reveal common interests that lie beyond the superficial level and thus build strong and unified communities that then compose a strong and unified nation.
In making our public policies, it is important that we learn from what we did right and what we did wrong. Much wisdom and experience exists to inform us about both. This process takes an investment of time, but the Internet makes finding that wisdom and experience much easier. Knowledge is power and power is shifting back to the people.
As Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to Richard Price in 1789, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights."
Democracy is less efficient than tyranny, but we are building for the long term. What you pay attention to is what succeeds—the garden must be weeded and watered—there is no short cut to a strong democracy. The divide-and-conquer wedge issue approach will not get us there.
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