The ConserveLiberty Blog  

Offered by David Apollo

There is a commonly heard cliche that societies (or, for that matter forests, histories, etc.) can be described as tapestries. A Forest can be thought of as a tapestry of trees, groundcover, and various other living things that function as a forest community. A Body can be thought of as a tapestry of body parts that all function as a working body. Societies can be thought of as a tapestry of individuals, each with their own talents and faults and instincts and histories, that function as a human community.

Central to many of the themes at the ConserveLiberty site is the notion that for the cooperation of differences to become optimal within a tapestry of things, the individual things must be allowed to be what they are - different. And, with regard to building the best tapestry, the more differences to choose from, the better. Now, in the building of a tapestry, not all possibilities of differing things will be selected to participate. In fact, for synergy to develop (vs. anarchy or a poorly functioning mess), the pieces of the tapestry are usually selected so that they fit well together. Limit the differences allowed, and the possibilities within the tapestry are limited. Allow more differences, and with careful discrimination and selection the opportunity for very powerful, nearly magical, cooperative tapestries arise.

Even if the tapestry components are not aware that they are to be leveraged as such.

An example can be seen in the work of the video artist Ophir Kutiel, professionally known as Kutiman. At right, Kutiman has assembled solo performances from 23 videos, and has crafted them together to create an ensemble, a medley. This collection of performances, presented with each other, offers an altogether different experience than any of them alone. And none of these artists knew ahead of time that their work would be assembled in this way.

Another example, a mix of 19 different YouTube videos woven into one video tapestry again illustrates the power of having dramatically differing contributions to pick from in the creation of Kutiman's art.

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And so it is with the need to Conserve Liberty. The liberty to select based on merit and purpose. The liberty to choose. The liberty to innovate. The liberty to be different.

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