The Tao Te Ching guides rulers, whether we are rulers of only our own selves, or caregivers for children and elderly family members, or a Governor, or CEO of the Ford Foundation or Ford Motor Corporation, the Prime TrimTab Principle of wu wei optimizes confluence, or contentment, by minimizing dissonant interference. A great deal has been said already about wu wei’s incarnating as a laissez-faire self- and other-governing practice. But, “laissez-faire” is to non-violence as mutually subsidizing subsidiarity is to well-integrated pacifism.

We have active non-violence (Yang) and passive non-violence (Yin). Active non-violence is to be practiced only as Positively Deviant from our eco-dislogical systemic norms. Active non-violence responds only to unnatural ego-eruptions into our cultural DNA environment and economy. When and where ego-normics conflict with balanced eco-logic, then active non-violence is an appropriate wu wei response.

Ecological, or permacultural, candidates for Cooperative Party endorsement want balanced DNA enculturation for regenerative governing intent and practice. Strong candidates will stand out as Positive Deviants within an overly competitive ego-normic culture, economic systems, and political processes. Positive Deviant Cooperative Party nominees will demonstrate well-balanced DNA permacultural practice for themselves, and intent for those they care for.

Some questions that we might all ask ourselves before considering public office, or even private regenerative capacity:

Am I more concerned about building a better regulatory and investment environment for self-composting toilets and humanure, or for corporate profiteering banks?

Am I more concerned about keeping my non-blue trash can as empty as possible or about keeping my checking account as full as possible?

If I don’t compost, how do I feel and think about that? Same thing for gardening.

Do I live in a place that would be more comfortable in an exclusive gated community, or in a diversely polycultured forest? Why?

What are my personal nutrition and self-care practices and concerns, issues for myself and for my family and community?

What is my transportation procedure, policy, practice and intent? How does this intersect with my (0) carbon balanced aspirations?

What and where are my financial investments? How much of my portfolio, and/or time, is invested in cooperative ecological enterprises and vocations and service networks and training and schools? Is any of it invested locally, or within my own bioregion? If not, why not? What are my barriers to smart ecological investment of resources?

What have I done to participate in and support cooperative ecological employment and residential and learning economies?

You will undoubtedly come up with your own better questions, but these were enough to reassure me that our Cooperative Party will not be nominating me for any embarrassing public exposure. I am just not Positive Deviant enough.

The Cooperative Party drew up a character profile of their ideal candidates for elected office.

Cooperative Party candidates run their campaigns the way they hope to generate public policy and inclusive procedural justice. We are looking for excellent ecological economists and regenerative system analysts, mentors, and facilitators.  If you cannot demonstrate at least moderate levels of accomplishment as regenerative ecologists within your personal, familial, and community life, then please do not come to our Cooperative Party, we will all be miserable in your depressing company.

 Important regenerative ecological indicators, for your self-assessment:

Personal Health Care

You exercise and feed your mind and body with nutritious choices, promoting well-being of taste, feelings, balanced eco/ego intentions, sounds, sights, and smells, and relationships, too, as possible while retaining positive environmental goals for including diversity of cultural and economic values within your daily and weekly formation.

Familial/Kinship Care

Your approach to primary relationships demonstrates profoundly inclusive peaceful-loving intention and compassionate mindfulness. Disagreements about values and priorities are recognized as important teachers, mutual learning opportunities for growing in understanding and potential confluence. Flexibility in positively framing and managing internally competing values, ages, gender identities and preferences, access to resources, security ,integral integrity, recreation and rest, learning and mentoring praxis are all germane experience for sustainable outcomes within the Cooperative Party.

Community Vocational Experience

If you have no experience within a cooperative vocational culture, then you are not yet ready for legislative design projects. If you have never mentored a regenerative development system, demonstrating facility as a mutual feedback coordinator and summarizer and analyzer, then you have not yet legislated policy and procedure for installing a perennial garden, much less an ecosystem or nation. Ideal mature wisdom experience within shared vocational relationships would cover the full range of cooperative development from community research and inclusive project planning experience, through implementation, maintenance, evaluation, and strategic comprehensive review for further synergetic optimization, meeting Permaculture Design’s Continuous Quality Improvement Standard Principles, for regenerative systems evolution.

 Investing exorbitant currency and time in campaigning for an essentially cooperative vocation seems ineffective and counter-intuitive to this Cooperative Party. We tend to nominate those candidates who invest the least in their campaigns for office. On the other hand, we do support  candidates with resources needed for public discernment, responsive to issues cooperatively and inclusively named and framed for their Positive Deviance TrimTab potential.