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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/05/2026

In *Thinking in Systems*, Meadows presents a hierarchy of leverage points for changing a system, ranked from least effective ("Constants, numbers, parameters") to most ("The power to shift paradigms to deal with new challenges"): www.flickr.com/photos/docto... 8/

A slide showing a lever weighted down on one end by a circle labeled 'System' next to a fulcrum; the points along the lever are labeled with different potential interventions that can move the system, taken from the work of Donella Meadows.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/05/2026

In all, Meadows theorizes 12 different "places to intervene in a system." The least effective of these - constants like taxes and standards, negative and positive feedback loops - are the sites of most of our political fights, and rightly so. 9/

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/05/2026

They are the fine-tuning knobs of the system that adjust its margins. Once you have the rule of law ("the rules of the system"), you can drive change by amending, repealing or passing a law: donellameadows.org/archives/lev... 10/

donellameadows.org

Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System

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