DOGE ‘s introduction May Mark A New Era of Governance in the US

Transformative Shift in Governance: Self-Regulation, Efficiency & Managed Complexity?

In all countries around the world, businesses, organizations, governments and people on a personal level are undergoing the most fundamental changes that ever occurred in history. A change that has been palpably going on for almost two decades. And it just entered a new stage:

The clean up phase.

We are witnessing a full transformation from the old world as we know it into a New World still unknown. While land is in sight to some extent, the full picture is still evolving. Thus, a lot of people are nervous about the tremendous changes at hand. And the US is once again taking the lead:

A New Era of Governance

With the introduction of President-Elect Donald Trump’s DOGE - Department of Government Efficiency - the US is at the forefront of ushering in a new era of governance. And it’s exciting!

While for some (like myself) this conjures explorer fever; for others it understandably generates fears and paralysis. Few like change; even fewer like transformative change.

But when looking at transforming systems, Nature gives a lot of clues that could calm people down who are afraid of uncertainty.

There are a lot of parallels we can draw from natural transformation that occurs in Nature everyday automatically.

First, we need to emotionally and intellectually understand that the “old” world — the world we knew — characterized by thinking of humans as one dimensionally only (vs the multi-dimensionals that we actually are), a linear modus operandi embedded in a simplistically fragmented worldview — no longer works. At this time, everyone knows this on some level.

This linear operating of the 20th century led to an ever exploding hierarchical bureaucracy in an effort to somehow keep up with the non-linear, real - and complex - world we’re living in.

Complexity is the raw material of Nature! We cannot ignore how natural systems work and by the same token advocate for a sustainable future! A sustainable future needs viable systems in society and governments.

The linear approach (top-down, over-regulation, over-spending and fragmented solutions for fragmented problems) cannot be applied to the non-linear natural reality we’re living in!

• It led to a bloated government apparatus, with a debt load that most people wouldn’t know how to write the many zeros wasting away our own money and our children’s prosperity: $3billion a DAY! This old way of doing things has enslaved future generations.

• It led to too over-regulations that paralyze dynamic economic development and in many ways, put a straight jacket onto people’s own creativity.

• It hampers the flow of prosperity. Because Nature isn’t like that at all. There’s no overspending in Nature, no over-regulation, no top-down management, no waste.

• The last time , the US had a balanced budget was 2001! The federal government is the largest employer in the US, employing 2,87 million civilians in 2023; and 19,58 millions working for state and local governments. @SmartSustainability had an episode on the correlation of free societies and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial venturing is the hallmark of sustainable societies and prosperity.

See, complexity is like creativity: it’ s a raw material that needs plenty of space to roam. It works best with agility, efficiency, and minimum regulatory mechanisms. Why? It’s the way nature is set up.

If you observe nature, you notice:

All natural systems self-regulate. Self-Regulation is the pinnacle of sustaining into the future.

This is how Nature survived for 4.5 billion years.

So, while politics still mostly plays by the old playbook - bickering over cabinet member proposals, arguing over debt ceilings and finger pointing - what may accelerate real transformation in the US are likely DOGE’s activities — the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency. Depending on what its main focus is and if self-regulatory systems are the goal.

Run by Elon Musk, a physicist and Vivek Ramaswamy, a biologist. Two disruptors that one would think understand that in the world of complexity, business training is an add-on. But real change of complex systems comes from mirroring and implementing how natural systems work and how they are able to sustain. Natural systems are extremely economical: they produce zero waste. Nothing in Nature is ever created in vain. Which cannot be said for governments.

The dynamic inter-connectedness and ramifications of demographics, ecology/environment, technology and debt generated enormous complexity for all of our systems and institutions. -- Consequently, managing this complexity is the focal point where real change happens. It differs from plain economics-only-focused thinking which has lost its meaning over the debt explosion of the last few years (and decades).

In context with complexity, other mechanisms play a role as we can learn from Nature: self-regulatory dynamics focused on healthy interactions of control and regulation. Which in turn have a positive impact on economics.

Enter: biologist, physicist, cybernetic and pattern thinkers.

Cybernetics comes from Greek “kybernetes'“ which means ‘helmsman’. The word is also contained in the word roots of ‘governance’, and ‘governor’.

Cybernetics is the science of steering, regulation and control.

All natural systems have a built-in mechanism of steering, regulation and control. Neurosciences in particular, the investigation of brains and the central nervous system, can teach us much about those dynamics.

Stafford Beer famously knew:

”Organize a system so as to make it self-organizing”.

This golden rule is where biology, physics, cybernetics and great governance meet. Built-in capability of self-regulation in our governance systems is future forward and the name of the game for the new era we're going in.

Which brings me to the next key aspect of transformation that occurs in Nature automatically:

The most fundamental thing in going into new territory is traveling light.

This is where Government Detox comes in.

If you’ve ever ventured on an explorer trip, you know what counts: Being agile. Flexible. Adaptive. To change with weather conditions, itinerary changes and different circumstances as needed.

This is what occurs in Nature every day. Natural systems travel lightly, NATURALLY. They let go of what’s no longer needed and develop new capabilities that are needed. Whole species are formed like this. Trees go through this process every fall to blossom fresh in spring.

The letting go process is a Government Detox

Think of it like starting a detox with accelerating your digestive system at the onset of a diet. Or like purging your closet. Not in a sense of just putting things in a box, neatly stored away, but in getting rid of clothes that no longer fit you, making space for something new.

When you go on a diet, what do you do? You start by loosening the bowel movements to unclog the digestive tract. That’s the first order of the day. But it causes discomfort. A lot of it. And it’s likely what DOGE will be tackling first: Cleaning the digestive tract of government machinery that has been clogged by overlapping agencies, thousands of accumulated regulations and heavy price tags.

Too many outdated programs, government initiatives and bloated personnel apparatus have grown like cancers in the Washington DC landscape. They are synonymous with uncontrolled growth and cost.

Uncontrolled growth in nature however, exists only with cancer cells.

So: those old murky systems have to be dismantled. The big questions will be, how and if DOGE can go about it with having self-regulatory governance systems in mind. Self-regulatory in a way that truly mirrors nature. Because that makes all the difference in the world. Or, a diluted approach to self-regulated systems that focuses solely on cost-cutting and personal interest. Time will tell.

A new order has begun to form.

Indeed. One that will implicate a potentially new way of functioning of society. A new way of governance will naturally follow. It’s a new kind of social evolution that is much more than just a revolution.

America First in that respect would be more than just a focus towards restoring America’s prosperity. With moving in the direction of self-regulated governance systems and organizations, the US would truly be America First:

A pioneer again of implementing self-regulated systems. Aligned with how the US Constitution is set up! This is a first in the world. Exciting times ahead, indeed.

NEXT WEEK: Insights on how the intended impact of DOGE will open up opportunities and a different dynamics of Dreaming Big in society

Nicolette DeVidar is host of Smart Sustainability, a weekly TV show about co-creating our future in a sustainable and healthy way. With a distinct transformation background, she looks at sustainability from a whole systems perspective and sacred insights we can learn from Nature and universal laws.You can reach her at ndevidar@urban2050.org