The space between us
The whole is something other than sum of its parts. Like a clock, which gears on their own do nothing much, but together they create a completely new quality that could not be deducted from looking at its separated parts. Knowing what one ant can do does not tell us what hundred thousand of them can do together. The new quality is, basically, all parts plus the space between them, and by the space I mean all the relations and connections. How they all behave together. Now, it's not possible to have interactions without parts, and it's hardly possible to have parts without interactions - if they are completely separate, they can't be considered a system.
Then, something else. Can interactions be influenced without changing parts? By rearrangement alone? To some degree, to make the clock run faster or slower, or backwards. But if we consider more complex systems, like societies - interactions, types of interactions and results of interactions are directly derived from people a given society is made of. If people are happy, free and feel safe, they will create nice environment in which one can grow, prosper, reach his or hers potential and contribute.
If we have a society used to oppression, tyranny and invigilation, we can't "bring freedom" to it, because the people can't simply readjust and suddenly be free and happy. It does not happen. When tyranny is toppled it will be replaced by another tyranny. The revolution devours its own children. When all nodes in a network know only how to exist in condition of oppression, any sudden change will result in emergence of oppression. In other words, trying to make a property emerge by force will not be successful - even if superficially we all pretend that "people are now free". Democracy can't be enforced, cooperation can't be enforced, etc. As the famous Dilbert cartoon says, beatings will continue until morale improves - the most such a mentality can achieve is illusion of what is required, simply because people are afraid that if they don't pretend they will be punished. So they comply, but only to the extend they consider sufficient for being safe. It's not to say that revolution will not be eventually successful - just not in the first (first three, first seven) generations. Children and their children, who have not gone through old system's conditioning, they stand a chance of creating better society. Generation who participated in the old system's workings is mostly lost. That's why after a revolution warriors and fighters should step aside.
Digression: atheists are often ask what prevents them from committing crimes if they don't believe in hell (i.e., punishment for arbitrarily defined set of offenses). This kind of question can only come from people who are conditioned to behave in "moral" way, in fear of eternal fire. Free people do not need to have a whip upon them to be generally good human beings.
Now... emergent properties in society (sorry for being a chaotical writer, this is more of a braindump than balanced and thoughtful speech!) - it all depends on the people involved. What emerges in the space between us is made by us. Be the change you want to see in the world - because you can't make a change if you are not willing and ready to be changed by it.
And one more thing, the only real polarity in the universe, love and fear - opening and closing - connection and separation - imagine a society which is being fed war, fear, drugs and oppression, and imagine what emerges in such a society. The mass shootings? Whatever conspiracy theory you believe in, I'm not saying those theories are true or not, I don't really care, because what seems like a logical conclusion is that precisely thins kind of events will emerge from current state of the state. To me it seems that no conspiracy is required. It's all in plain sight. And the result? More police state, more control, more illusion - peace and order in police state is nothing more than wishful thinking and illusion - there is chaos crawling underneath society's "order". That chaos seeks to vent wherever possible, and vent it does. It is inevitable. And the worst part is that even if NSA, CIA and all other monsters (instruments of oppression) could just disappear right now, it would take long time for real peace and order to emerge.