Recently aspects of competition and cooperation as it exists in our media, in our politics and in our daily lives keep recurring in discussions I’m in. I think this is a very important part of the political dynamic that should be explored.

At a holiday party, we got into a discussion about television shows years ago and today. Do any of you remember “Then came Bronson”? IMDB describes the pilot this way: “Jim Bronson is a young newspaperman who quits his job following the suicide of his best friend, and sets out on a cross-country trip on his motorcycle in his quest for the meaning of life in which he befriends a runway bride, another searching soul, in this pilot for the TV series of the same name.”

I remember the opening scene from each show:
"Taking a trip?
"What's that?"
"Taking a trip."
"Yeah."
"Where to?"
"Oh, I don't know...wherever I end up, I guess."
"Pal, I wish I was you."
"Really?...well...hang in there."

Bronson would roll into some town and just long enough to address some problem and then be on the road again.

We talked about Bronson and Route 66 and wondered why we had shows like that then, and what we have on TV now. One person suggested that the important difference was between cooperation and competition. The message of today is competition. Look at any of the reality TV shows. Sure, you might cooperate to the extent necessary to survive, but ultimately, it is about winning at the expense of everyone else around you. There can only be one winner.

This conversation came back to me as I read David Weinberger’s blog entry Hyperlinks v. Hierarchy.

In it he writes, “I'd also add that I agree with Dave that humans compete. But - to state the obvious, with which Dave agrees - that's not all we do. We also collaborate, sympathize, coordinate, love, give way, support, woo, encourage, cooperate, share, and surprise one another with ‘Hang in there, Baby!’ cat posters.”

This aspect of competition and cooperation has been coming up in discussions about Wikipedia as well. The Wikipedia model seems to be based primarily on the cooperative aspects. Granted, the competition shows up here and there as people with different opinions compete to have their opinions expressed, but in most cases, I tend to think of Wikipedia as a cooperative activity.

This brings me back to the political discussions. People ask me how I can be hopeful that the political processes will change. I tend to look at things in terms of large scale social changes. Over the past thirty years to pendulum has swung to a much more competitive individualism. I believe that we are at the point where the pendulum is starting to swing back to a great emphasis on cooperation.

We can argue whether the structure of broadcast media contributed to the rising individualism or if the structure of the web will be instrumental in moving us back towards being a more cooperative society. However, I believe that the message of cooperation is going to be an important part of the political dialog over the next few years and those who can demonstrate their commitment to the idea that “we’re all in this together” will end up having a great effect on the political dialog.