As an example: someone owning a restaurant would pay $4 for the total ingredients and labor used to create a dish, but would charge a customer $18 for the entrée. Costs for employee benefits, building upkeep, business longevity (marketing etc) may be cited as reasons for this markup. But it’s more the ability for someone (particularly someone with prestige and access to certain networks) to evaluate themselves at this level, placing a premium on their selection, their ability to create or assemble this atmosphere.

Along those lines, the visibility of those in power is quite important. As we read more of this text, I look forward to discussing of transparent leadership, and/or what to do when the power network is not fully identified or public. Consider this graphic by the Tangential University Download file downloaded from http://utangente.free.fr/anewpages/govinfo.html

What do we do when those in charge are not people, but a group that has no identity? One of my favorite movies, the Corporation http://www.thecorporation.com/ addresses this in detail.

One last (major) point regarding accountability, responsibility, and power: how does one provide an environment that ensures continued engagement? Although the “exquisite corpse� drawings from the Dada movement are dynamic and collaborative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse), we are now in a time when those held accountable are a different generation from those that may have originated the problem. Is there a way to collaborate over a distance with those that have the ability to affect the issue? What level of public visibility should the issue have, and what level the solution? What are we (as a society, as an individual) willing to own up to, and what are we willing to move forward with?

As we read p27 (Growth in the Demand for Human Rights and Democratic Governance) we see the idea of freedom or rights explored under a title. Moving towards a “democratic society� does not ensure that control over citizen’s lives will be lightened. If one looks at the large-scale dependencies that are being structured in China, with the mass-urbanization movement and large scale infrastructure (3 Gorges Dam), one could question if this modernization makes each citizen more dependent on the state. Regional societies are displaced in favor of the large-scale heavy-handed installations (megainfrastructure, megacities). Additionally, their way of life (growing their own food and working their land) is eliminated in favor of state-managed and often foreign-designed high-rises with no land to farm. How much of this is democratic and how much is still communism under a different title?

My phrasing is not meant to politicize this issue, merely to suggest that it can be thought about from a different angle. When I look at my life here in Minneapolis, I see that my power comes from outlets, my water comes from pipes, and my waste is picked up at the curb. When I can’t physically identify where these basic necessities come from, I begin to be concerned about who’s maintaining and regulating them, what their priorities are, and if they are working in the best interests of the world, not just their idea of valuation.

In addition to Leadership for the Common Good, I’d like to understand Leadership for the Chosen Elite. Only then will we know how to respond to the larger forces that have been at play in our global society for ages.