As it applies to the SXS, the term "secular" has a dual meaning. First, it refers to the more "worldly" administrative, organizational, political and governmental functions of the SXS, as opposed to the more "transcendental" functions of the TXS. Secular also applies to the "world wide" or "universal" scope of its mission and philosophy, which extends beyond all national creeds, allegiances and borders.

The term "Xenophyte" applies to people who believe in and live in accordance with the principles of the Xenophyte Code. The Xenophyte Code is a small but crucial part of the comprehensive philosophy known as "Xenophytism" (pronounced zen-ah-fit-ism), which is explicated in the Xenophyte Perspective Series. Those who identify with this philosophy are known as Xenophytes, or "Synthesists."

As it applies to the SXS, the term "Synthesis" is used in a somewhat unconventional sense as a synonym for an "organization."  In this context, synthesis can be thought of as simply a "synthesis" of people who share a common perspective or world view. Synthesis should not be confused with the related term "Synthesist."

People who believe that the principle of ideological synthesis is an important element of the optimal political belief system describe themselves as "Synthesists." The main idea behind the principle of ideological synthesis is that neither liberals nor conservatives have a monopoly on the truth, and that both liberal and conservative ideologies contain things that people need to know in order to form a more comprehensive and accurate view of the public interest, and of human interests more generally, over the longer term. Accordingly, Synthesists believe that the optimal political ideology involves a synthesis of liberal and conservative principles, or a synthesis of viewpoints that have traditionally been more closely associated with either the political left or the political right.

There are no important distinctions between people who identify themselves as "Xenophytes" and those who describe themselves as "Synthesists." Synthesist is merely the term that is used to distinguish Xenophytes operating in the political sphere. Synthesists come from all walks of life and from all parts of the world. Their numbers are growing, along with the realization that neither liberal nor conservative ideologies are adequate to deal with a variety of serious problems that humanity now faces, or will likely face in the near future. The belief systems of liberalism and conservatism have increasingly limited utility in dealing with a variety of complex problems, and they represent an obsolete and an outmoded way of viewing social, economic and political phenomena.

The term Xenophyte is derived from the Greek word "xeno" meaning stranger or foreigner. It is used to refer to the standpoint of ideological neutrality that could theoretically be achieved by a group of foreigners who had little or no knowledge of the conventions of a particular society. Theoretically, such a group of disinterested observers could more easily identify those social, economic, and political arrangements which would be optimally functional, or those which would be most conducive to the long term welfare of a particular society. And while this standpoint of complete ideological neutrality is only an ideal, it is important to note that it is an ideal which is opposed to the polar ideological views of both liberals and conservatives. The Xenophyte Perspective does not initially favor concepts or policies which are more closely associated with either the political left or the political right. This perspective only ends up favoring concepts or policies which are more closely associated with the political left or the political right, according to where the best arguments happen to be, in light of certain "functional" considerations. From the Xenophyte Perspective, the most important functional considerations are related to the goals of maximizing the stability and progress of human society, or achieving an optimal balance between the two.

Xenophyte also refers to the moral and ethical philosophy of Xenophytism. Xenophytism is a comprehensive value, attitude and belief system, or an ideology. But, unlike other ideologies, it has been designed with knowledge derived from a scientifically based understanding of human nature, a comprehensive assessment of the challenges facing humanity, and with knowledge of the functions that ideologies in general are intended to serve. Thus, Xenophytism is an ideology in a good sense. It is also a functional ideology by virtue of the fact that it is a belief system that is not dominated by values that are more closely associated with only one pole of man's temperamental essence. Xenophytism integrates values and beliefs associated with both poles of man's temperamental essence to form a synthetic belief system. By holding such values and beliefs, Xenophytes are somewhat immune to the influences of ideological distortion. At the very least, they are less susceptible to such influences than people who identify themselves as either liberals or conservatives.

When a group of Synthesists establishes a political party in a country, that party is known as a "Synthesis Party." In relation to the great overarching political ideologies of our time, namely, liberalism and conservatism, the philosophy or ideology of Synthesis Parties will be a "synthesis" of liberal and conservative views. That is to say, it will be based upon views that are decidedly to the left on certain issues, and decidedly to the right on other issues. On still other issues, the party may hold positions that are closer to the center of the ideological spectrum. The position that a Synthesis Party takes on a particular issue will be dictated by an understanding of its functions for society, and not by considerations of ideological orthodoxy, or by a desire to remain loyal to a particular polarized ideology. Yet, where a Synthesis Party stands on various issues will be more than just the result of mixing views that have become more closely associated with either liberalism, conservatism or centrism. It will also involve forming a complex system of intermediary structures between these sets of "potentially" opposing ideas, in order to reconcile conflicts between them. And, it will involve establishing the complex interrelationships that exist between various issues in order to form a "comprehensively rational" picture of the public interest over the longer term. This latter requirement is satisfied by holding a belief system which effectively subsumes elements of the polarized ideologies and then reintegrates their elements as part of a new conceptual system, to produce a synthetic ideology (a belief system which contains elements of the polar ideologies).

More About the Concept of Ideological Synthesis
Synthesis is the key to understanding the perspective from which the SXS addresses matters related to politics, ethics and philosophy. A belief system which is based on the concept of ideological synthesis has a number of qualities that recommend it over other belief systems, and over polar belief systems in particular. There are good reasons to believe that a synthetic belief system will stand a better chance of being able to defy the limitations that have historically been associated with ideologies more generally. To begin with, a synthetic belief system is more conciliatory than either of the polar ideologies. One of the main qualities of a synthetic belief system is that it tends to neutralize conflicting values associated with the polar ideologies. Because it is based upon a more extensive and eclectic knowledge base, and one which has a better grasp of aggregate human interests, it enjoys the benefits of the knowledge bases of both polar ideologies (liberalism and conservatism). Also, because it accounts for the two major poles of human interests, or the totality of the normally occurring range of human cognitive and temperamental essence, it stands a better chance of actually being able to identify human interests overall that either of the polar ideologies standing alone.

According to the idea of synthesis, there is no practical need to have absolute certainty when attempting to design an optimal belief system. To be considered "optimal," a belief system only needs to be more functional, or more conducive to the survivability of the species, than competing doctrines, like liberalism and conservatism. Because of its overarching goal of maximizing species survivability, the synthetic approach, transcends and subsumes both liberal and conservative ideologies.  The Xenophyte Perspective makes use of both of these ideologies, but it is not bound by them. It mediates the conflicting priorities of stability and progress within a larger conception of the species interest over the longer term, in the quest to maximize survivability. As an ideology, the synthetic perspective considers a wide variety of human interests and concerns within a comprehensive, long term framework. It reflects a truly "species level" consciousness. By contrast, liberalism and conservatism are polar ideologies which are designed to promote the narrow interests of particular groups in society over the shorter term, often at the expense of the public interest over the longer term.

As a way of interpreting social, economic, and political realities, Synthesists employ an approach that is initially just as skeptical of liberal views as it is of conservative views. Liberals believe that truths about human beings consistently favor policies which aggregate near the left of the ideological continuum. Conservatives believe that truths about human beings consistently favor policies which aggregate near the right of the ideological continuum. By contrast, Synthesists believe that truths about human societies favor policies which are distributed throughout the ideological continuum. Synthesists also believe that human societies in general, and the vast majority of social, economic, and political issues, are too complex to be understood by reference to either liberal or conservative principles alone. An understanding of society which is most likely to be maximally conducive to the survivability of the species is based upon a more comprehensive understanding of human beings and their behaviors. To use the analogy of light waves, these truths are presumed to be "incoherent" in the sense that they defy the polarizing force of liberal and conservative ideologies. Consequently, these truths are associated with points all along the ideological "spectrum."

More About The ASP and the SXS
The ASP (American Synthesis Party) and the SXS were founded jointly in January of 2000. Membership in both organizations remains small and both organizations remain obscure. However, a number of developments are taking place which strongly suggest that, at some point, both organizations could enjoy a sudden rise from obscurity. First, social, economic and political events around the world appear to be unfolding roughly in accordance with predictions which are at the core of the Xenophyte doctrine. Secondly, there is a corresponding and growing skepticism toward the older ideologies of liberalism and conservatism. These ideologies are revealing an inability to deal with a variety of serious problems which humanity now faces, principally, those related to overpopulation and the resulting strain on the environment and the resources needed to maintain a high standard of living. Until world population growth is brought under control, these problems are destined to get worse, and people will be expected to do more with less. As a result, political discontent throughout the world will surely tend to rise. The SXS is positioning itself to benefit from this discontent. By contrast, all that supporters of conventional ideologies appear able to do is to tell people that, in the future, they will need to do more with less. What they should be telling people is that merely by showing a little self restraint in the exercise of their reproductive freedoms, or merely by making a small sacrifice now, they could expect a much brighter future tomorrow. Showing such restraint would substantially reduce competitive economic pressures throughout the world, and it would make everyone's quality of life better over the longer term. Yet, virtually no government on Earth has fully embraced the idea that population control is necessary, except perhaps, the PRC. Apparently, such a long term view is beyond their grasp.

For all of its human rights abuses, the PRC may actually come closer to defending the most important human right (the right of survival, according to the Prime Criterion) than any other nation state. Thus, it may actually set a better example than many other nations which ostensibly have a better record on human rights. Ultimately, the right to survival is the highest human right. And, we are forfeiting this right by our failure to control our population growth. Liberals are generally unwilling to concede this point because it suggests that some restraint of individual freedoms is needed to achieve a larger public goal over the longer term. Conservatives are generally unwilling to concede this point for somewhat different reasons. Specifically, conservatives commonly believe that people should be allowed to have as many children as they want, because this leads to the expansion of consumer markets, and the continuing expansion of these markets is necessary to maintain economic growth. These arguments are false. The fact that both liberals and conservatives continue to rely on them illustrates how morally and intellectually bankrupt their ideologies have become. It also illustrates that both ideologies are poorly equipped to deal with a number of the most fundamental challenges now facing humanity.

The ideologies of liberalism and conservatism are increasingly showing signs of wear. They are showing signs of having run their historical course. The limitations of both belief systems are destined to become more apparent over time. Something must eventually take their place. Synthesis is the most likely alternative. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that the number of Synthesists is growing worldwide. This includes both those who openly proclaim their support for the idea of ideological synthesis, or those who openly identify with the synthesis movement, and it includes the growing  multitude of "closet synthesists," who, for one reason or another, want to pass themselves off as either centrists or moderates, or simply as people who are more even handed in their approach to issues; those who hold more eclectic world views, and those who want to distance themselves from the ideological extremes. Eventually, a mass exodus from liberal and conservative ideologies can be expected. The synthesis movement is the most logical beneficiary of this flight from failing ideologies.
 

COPYRIGHT 2012 BY ALEX VAN ALLEN