Rarely
does systems theory become a political issue; instead, political parties and
their respective candidates brandish policy positions geared to fixing
particular issues (i.e., parts of systems). In Iceland, the Pirate Party
proffered an exception leading up to the 2016 election. “We do not define
ourselves as left or right but rather as a party that focuses on the systems,” said
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the party’s leader.[1] In other words, the party made the system itself
the issue. “We stand for enacting changes that have to do with reforming the
systems, rather than changing minor things that might easily be changed back,” she
said.[2]
Even if the minor things could not be easily changed back, I contend that
fixing them is still sub-optimal when the systems of which they are part are
warped, and thus deficient as wholes. Therefore, a political party’s emphasis
on systems as themselves being in need of reform presents the world’s
population with a practical way to redress systemic problems.
The full essay is at "Iceland's Pirate Party."
1. Kim
Hjelmgaard, “Hacker-founded Pirate Party Could Win Iceland’s Election,” USA Today, October 28, 2016.
2. Ibid.
