[statecom-discuss] On efficiency

[Adam Sacks]

Dear Ron -

A concern that I have about your ahistorical stance on "efficiency" is that history informs
everything that we say or do, and to the extent we ignore the history is the extent to which we
act and use words without understanding implications of what we're doing.

Nature as machine, perfectly predictable and describable once we have a complete set of algorithms
(which is never, but that's just a picky detail), is fundamental to our willingness to destroy the
planet - after all, it's only a machine, there for human use, without feelings, disposable, with
plenty to go around and around and around.  In such a context, "efficiency" is a useful concept.

"Efficiency" as a term is typically used, and passively accepted by the public for the most part,
to represent why a for-profit business model should take over the world.  Externalities and
full-cost accounting are not part of this picture, so the myth of efficiency becomes a tool for
the status quo we are opposing.

Neither does calling it "optimal use of time to achieve an agreed upon objective" change things. 
I think that most of us will agree that politics is about relationships.  How many meaningful
relationships with other human beings are "efficient" or accomplish "optimal use of time to
achieve an agreed upon objective"?

I certainly don't object to figuring out the best way to get people to turn out at an event, but
to call it "efficiency" or an "optimal use of time" is invoking a mechanistic and more recently
corporate metaphor that is contrary to what brings most people to the GRP.  

People being with people, working on shared tasks, will never be efficient - although we may
certainly be effective, which I think is far more to the point.

Cheers,

Adam




--- Ron Francis <ronwf777 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Just to separate the different threads here before it becomes crazy....
> 
> I'll just limit this to "efficiency":
> 
> I had no idea about the historical use of the term efficiency,.. however I don't think it is
> relevant because people don't understand the word to have anything to do with Cartesian machines
> (whatever those are).
> 
> In activist circles "efficient" refers simply to doing actions that achieve the desired goals
> with the minimum amount of effort.  Related concept would be "cost-effective".  It's not the
> word that matters,..it is the concept.
> 
> In my experience the concept is used, for example, to determine how to get people to turn-out
> for an event.   Is it worth it is to use two hours to distribute flyers on the street VERSUS two
> hours of postering VERSUS two hours of phonecallling VERSUS two hours of mailing.  In fact this
> was done at a meeting I was at one month ago.
> 
> Because the group was conscious of efficiency, a small group was able to achieve a great turnout
> (40 people) for the event.
> 
> I hope that example makes the concept clear.
> 
> I also will note that I am not attached to any particular words.  It's the concept that is key. 
>  Call this concept the "optimal use of time to achieve an agreed upon objective" concept.
> 
> My original email was intended to get folks think about alternative uses of time before
> embarking on projects that require hundreds of hours, if the same objectives can be reached in
> different ways.
> 
> To restate:
> 
> Let's not just ask: Is this activity helping us achieve our agreed upon objective (almost
> everything we do is in some way positive, even if marginally positive).
> 
> Let's also ask:  Is this activity the best use of our time given our agreed upon objective.
> 
> (This assumes some agreed upon objectives which we sometimes have as state-wide entity, and
> sometimes do not.  The optimal use of time concept does not apply to situations where there are
> different objectives....)
> 
> ron
> 
> 
> 
>  
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> 



 
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