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Another post in the thread questioned why this happens in otherwise "civilized and enlightened" societies. My personal response - because we're not - lead me do

by bsanr 5y ago

Another post in the thread questioned why this happens in otherwise "civilized and enlightened" societies. My personal response - because we're not - lead me down a train of thought to Adam Lanza, the Newtown shooter. The common thread is a lack of mutual oversight, accountability, and responsibility for others in our communities. Civilization is a wonderful thing that enables any number of deep and extensive value-adds to quality of life for any given individual member of our species, but the specialization inherent in a free society means that people are trusted to attend to their own affairs (and in the case of hierarchy, the affairs of their charges). As a society, we share responsibility and consequences for the outcomes determined by the actions of individuals. This is the reason that the limits of individual freedom are somewhere in between the capacity and the demonstrated ability to infringe on the rights of others. What seems to have happened is dereliction of the duty to shape those limits in response to demonstrated infringement in the past. We know - we know - what the status quo wrt, as examples, the penal system and firearms has meant for individual and collective suffering. What you're feeling is the same sense that we're not learning from the past and dooming ourselves to gory, nightmarish repetition.

javajosh 5y ago
It's hard to grow your own patch of peace and wisdom when everyone around you is growing nettles and brambles. Even if others don't directly interfere, it's only easy to acquire the supplies that the majority is buying. And life is already a lot of work, and it's so damn tempting to just give up and go with the flow - not only is it less work, but you get a sense of community. Even if it is a community of shared dysfunction, it's better than being alone. It seems there's got to be a threshold, a critical mass of people who want to live differently than the rest before you can weather the challenges inherent in making non-mainstream choices. This is widely applicable; AA comes to mind, as does things like vegetarianism, homosexuality, Judaism, etc. There should be an -ism for the people who reject authoritarianism blind conformism, and who have a well-defined set of coping mechanisms to deal with misinformation, bullying, cruelty, and dehumanization. And ways to deal with people that embrace such techniques, especially those in power.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 5y ago
  You’re looking for mutual aid(1), egalitarianism, and maybe humanism. 1. https://givingcompass.org/partners/ncrp/the-importance-of-grassroots-mutual-aid-networks https://givingcompass.org/partners/ncrp/the-importance-of-gr... Mutual aid is inherently local. It’s someone asking for help on Twitter or Facebook, or at work. It’s someone offering aid, or connecting someone in need to someone able and willing to help. These networks sprung up all across the country last year, mostly in big cities with large protest movements, but also among communities with strong ties. At one point in time churches and governments filled this role, however both have been derelict in their duties for many many decades.

by bsanr 5y ago

javajosh 5y ago

It's hard to grow your own patch of peace and wisdom when everyone around you is growing nettles and brambles. Even if others don't directly interfere, it's only easy to acquire the supplies that the majority is buying. And life is already a lot of work, and it's so damn tempting to just give up and go with the flow - not only is it less work, but you get a sense of community. Even if it is a community of shared dysfunction, it's better than being alone. It seems there's got to be a threshold, a critical mass of people who want to live differently than the rest before you can weather the challenges inherent in making non-mainstream choices. This is widely applicable; AA comes to mind, as does things like vegetarianism, homosexuality, Judaism, etc. There should be an -ism for the people who reject authoritarianism blind conformism, and who have a well-defined set of coping mechanisms to deal with misinformation, bullying, cruelty, and dehumanization. And ways to deal with people that embrace such techniques, especially those in power.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 5y ago
You’re looking for mutual aid(1), egalitarianism, and maybe humanism. 1. https://givingcompass.org/partners/ncrp/the-importance-of-grassroots-mutual-aid-networks https://givingcompass.org/partners/ncrp/the-importance-of-gr... Mutual aid is inherently local. It’s someone asking for help on Twitter or Facebook, or at work. It’s someone offering aid, or connecting someone in need to someone able and willing to help. These networks sprung up all across the country last year, mostly in big cities with large protest movements, but also among communities with strong ties. At one point in time churches and governments filled this role, however both have been derelict in their duties for many many decades.