First I want to start with a definition
asshole
noun vulgar slang
One who makes someone suffer for their own pleasure or gain
One who finds pleasure in other people's suffering
(that they did not cause)
or uses it for their own gain
One who causes suffering and has no remorse
or makes excuses/justifications for it
or minimizes it.
One who sees someone else suffer and shows no compassion
minimizes the suffering or makes justifications for it.
General condescension
Concentrating on the faults of others
Liars. I know everyone, including myself, has told a lie and probably will in the future.
But, I acknowledge that dishonesty is an asshole trait.
And a very subtle asshole trait is not acknowledging others as human beings.
Whether it be someone who is serving you dinner, ringing up your new shoes, or passing you on the street. To try your hardest to dismiss their exist...
*updated
19 June 2012
18 June 2012
Community Balance
Individualism
And
Community
Liberty
And
Obligation
The only natural ethical responsibility a person has to anyone else is not to violate the rights of others. We are ethically bound and responsible to not interfere with the life, liberty, security, and property of others without their consent.
The only other obligations a person has are the ones they explicitly consent to. Not to some socially constructed community they were born into.
You choose to be a part of a community. If you make that choice then you are accountable for all agreements you've made in that community. If you can't abide by those agreements, you need to find another community.
Who has the authority to determine someone else's ethical responsibility? Who has the authority to impose (force) their ethics on others?
There are Christians (and other religious people) that have decided that gay people have violated their ethical responsibility to the society. And they, as christians, have the right to hold gay people accountable, by whatever means they deem necessary.
A discussion about accountability should not be condescending. There are 'I' statements. The ones where you say how an action is affecting you and what you will do to keep yourself safe and healthy. It recognizes that you do not have authority over other people's actions, only authority over your response to those actions.
"If the community could really take responsibility about us being honorable to each other, then it doesn’t matter what the legal system does;...there’s actually more certainty and less wrenching if there is a sense of responsibility. We are responsible for the decisions we make with each other."
-Sarah Schulman
The key point is 'we are responsible for the decisions we make with each other'. Not for decisions you make and expect others to just automatically be accountable for because they have some characteristic. That's why communication, equal, honest, and respectful, is key to any relationship or community
Treat others the way they want to be treated
Nietzsche:
...no man has ever done anything that was done wholly for others and with no personal motivation whatever; how, indeed, should a man be able to do something that had no reference to himself, that is to say lacked all inner compulsion (which would have its basis in a personal need)? How could the ego act without the ego?— Human, All Too Human, Sec. 133
Everyone doesn't agree with Nietzsche
Science as shown that humans (and other animals) are 'naturally' capable of altruism and selfishness. Cooperation and competition. Indifference and empathy. It's our dual nature.
There have been plenty of people who have helped others with no thought of themselves; and plenty who have destroyed the lives of others with no remorse. It depends on the person and the situation
And regardless of how naive or childish it may seem, there are plenty of people who have found a place away from the other 7 billion people on this planet that is not in a basement nor under the haze of drugs. And it's their choice.
So, How do I think we can be held accountable to one another to strengthen our community?
Maintain healthy boundaries. Be able to break relations with people who cannot respect your boundaries. Acknowledge other people's equality and autonomy.
What is the quintessential element that ties us all together?
Liberty
No tendency is quite so strong in human nature as the desire to lay down rules of conduct for other people.
-William Howard Taft
And
Community
Liberty
And
Obligation
The only natural ethical responsibility a person has to anyone else is not to violate the rights of others. We are ethically bound and responsible to not interfere with the life, liberty, security, and property of others without their consent.
The only other obligations a person has are the ones they explicitly consent to. Not to some socially constructed community they were born into.
You choose to be a part of a community. If you make that choice then you are accountable for all agreements you've made in that community. If you can't abide by those agreements, you need to find another community.
Who has the authority to determine someone else's ethical responsibility? Who has the authority to impose (force) their ethics on others?
There are Christians (and other religious people) that have decided that gay people have violated their ethical responsibility to the society. And they, as christians, have the right to hold gay people accountable, by whatever means they deem necessary.
A discussion about accountability should not be condescending. There are 'I' statements. The ones where you say how an action is affecting you and what you will do to keep yourself safe and healthy. It recognizes that you do not have authority over other people's actions, only authority over your response to those actions.
"If the community could really take responsibility about us being honorable to each other, then it doesn’t matter what the legal system does;...there’s actually more certainty and less wrenching if there is a sense of responsibility. We are responsible for the decisions we make with each other."
-Sarah Schulman
The key point is 'we are responsible for the decisions we make with each other'. Not for decisions you make and expect others to just automatically be accountable for because they have some characteristic. That's why communication, equal, honest, and respectful, is key to any relationship or community
Treat others the way they want to be treated
Nietzsche:
...no man has ever done anything that was done wholly for others and with no personal motivation whatever; how, indeed, should a man be able to do something that had no reference to himself, that is to say lacked all inner compulsion (which would have its basis in a personal need)? How could the ego act without the ego?— Human, All Too Human, Sec. 133
Everyone doesn't agree with Nietzsche
Science as shown that humans (and other animals) are 'naturally' capable of altruism and selfishness. Cooperation and competition. Indifference and empathy. It's our dual nature.
There have been plenty of people who have helped others with no thought of themselves; and plenty who have destroyed the lives of others with no remorse. It depends on the person and the situation
And regardless of how naive or childish it may seem, there are plenty of people who have found a place away from the other 7 billion people on this planet that is not in a basement nor under the haze of drugs. And it's their choice.
So, How do I think we can be held accountable to one another to strengthen our community?
Maintain healthy boundaries. Be able to break relations with people who cannot respect your boundaries. Acknowledge other people's equality and autonomy.
What is the quintessential element that ties us all together?
Liberty
No tendency is quite so strong in human nature as the desire to lay down rules of conduct for other people.
-William Howard Taft
16 June 2012
Oligarchy
noun ( pl. oligarchies )
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution
15 June 2012
Feudalism
word of the day
n
historical
the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
New American Oxford Dictionary
the legal and social system that evolved in W Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, in which vassals were protected and maintained by their lords, usually through the granting of fiefs, and were required to serve under them in war
Collins English Dictionary
A system of obligations that bound lords and their subjects in Europe during much of the Middle Ages. In theory, the king owned all or most of the land and gave it to his leading nobles in return for their loyalty and military service. The nobles in turn held land that peasants, including serfs, were allowed to farm in return for the peasants' labor and a portion of their produce. Under feudalism, people were born with a permanent position in society.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
fief [( feef )]
Under feudalism, a landed estate given by a lord to a vassal in return for the vassal's service to the lord. The vassal could use the fief as long as he remained loyal to the lord.
Feudalism is the general term used to describe the political and military system of western Europe during the Middle Ages. At that time, there was no strong central government and little security, but feudalism fulfilled the basic need for justice and protection.
Feudalism is often confused with manorialism. Manorialism was the system of organizing agricultural labor. It refers to the economic relationship between the lord of a manor and his peasant tenants. Feudalism, on the other hand, was mainly a political and military system. Both the lord and his subjects, called vassals, were aristocrats. The lord gave vassals land in return for military and other services. The lord and the vassals were bound through ceremonies and oaths.
The word feudal comes from a Latin term for fief. The fief was the estate or land granted by a lord in return for a vassal's loyalty and service. Some fiefs were large enough to support one knight. Others were great provinces of a kingdom, such as the province of Normandy in France. The church, which owned large fiefs, was also part of the feudal system.
In the A.D. 400's, Germanic tribes conquered the West Roman Empire and divided it into many kingdoms. The Germanic peoples were loyal only to their tribal chiefs or to their families. Their customs replaced many Roman laws, and the strong central and local governments of the Romans disappeared. Such changes and further invasions resulted in general disorder and constant warfare in the years following the fall of the West Roman Empire. Feudalism helped establish order in Europe under these conditions.
WorldBook
n
historical
the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
New American Oxford Dictionary
the legal and social system that evolved in W Europe in the 8th and 9th centuries, in which vassals were protected and maintained by their lords, usually through the granting of fiefs, and were required to serve under them in war
Collins English Dictionary
A system of obligations that bound lords and their subjects in Europe during much of the Middle Ages. In theory, the king owned all or most of the land and gave it to his leading nobles in return for their loyalty and military service. The nobles in turn held land that peasants, including serfs, were allowed to farm in return for the peasants' labor and a portion of their produce. Under feudalism, people were born with a permanent position in society.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
fief [( feef )]
Under feudalism, a landed estate given by a lord to a vassal in return for the vassal's service to the lord. The vassal could use the fief as long as he remained loyal to the lord.
Feudalism is the general term used to describe the political and military system of western Europe during the Middle Ages. At that time, there was no strong central government and little security, but feudalism fulfilled the basic need for justice and protection.
Feudalism is often confused with manorialism. Manorialism was the system of organizing agricultural labor. It refers to the economic relationship between the lord of a manor and his peasant tenants. Feudalism, on the other hand, was mainly a political and military system. Both the lord and his subjects, called vassals, were aristocrats. The lord gave vassals land in return for military and other services. The lord and the vassals were bound through ceremonies and oaths.
The word feudal comes from a Latin term for fief. The fief was the estate or land granted by a lord in return for a vassal's loyalty and service. Some fiefs were large enough to support one knight. Others were great provinces of a kingdom, such as the province of Normandy in France. The church, which owned large fiefs, was also part of the feudal system.
In the A.D. 400's, Germanic tribes conquered the West Roman Empire and divided it into many kingdoms. The Germanic peoples were loyal only to their tribal chiefs or to their families. Their customs replaced many Roman laws, and the strong central and local governments of the Romans disappeared. Such changes and further invasions resulted in general disorder and constant warfare in the years following the fall of the West Roman Empire. Feudalism helped establish order in Europe under these conditions.
WorldBook
13 June 2012
Separation of church and state
You don't get to use your holy book to legally tell me how to live my life
12 June 2012
05 June 2012
Union evolution
Workers should retire collective bargaining. Public Union workers should quit. Then they should incorporate. Then they should bid for government contracts.
A contract that is renegotiated regularly.
What if unions became worker cooperatives or collectives
Workers would own and run collective, with profits or benefits shared among them.
They would contract their workers out to corporations
They negotiate the wage and benefits of the workers in the contract.
They would not be direct employees of the company
They would create their own customer base and advertise for work
"Worker cooperatives are business entities that are owned and controlled by their members, the people who work in them.
The two central characteristics of worker coopratives are:
(1) workers invest in and own the business and
(2) decision-making is democratic, generally adhering to the principle of one worker-one vote.
The international worker cooperative federation CICOPA established some basic standards for worker cooperatives in the World Declaration on Cooperative Worker Ownership (also known as the Oslo Declaration) at a meeting in Oslo, Norway in 2003. The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives uses this document to determine worker cooperative status."
oslo declaration
shareable
www.usworkers.coop
www.american.coop
workplace democracy
*original post Feb 2012
A contract that is renegotiated regularly.
What if unions became worker cooperatives or collectives
Workers would own and run collective, with profits or benefits shared among them.
They would contract their workers out to corporations
They negotiate the wage and benefits of the workers in the contract.
They would not be direct employees of the company
They would create their own customer base and advertise for work
"Worker cooperatives are business entities that are owned and controlled by their members, the people who work in them.
The two central characteristics of worker coopratives are:
(1) workers invest in and own the business and
(2) decision-making is democratic, generally adhering to the principle of one worker-one vote.
The international worker cooperative federation CICOPA established some basic standards for worker cooperatives in the World Declaration on Cooperative Worker Ownership (also known as the Oslo Declaration) at a meeting in Oslo, Norway in 2003. The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives uses this document to determine worker cooperative status."
oslo declaration
shareable
www.usworkers.coop
www.american.coop
workplace democracy
*original post Feb 2012
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