Annie Anthrax wrote on Oct 15^th, 2013 at 9:20pm:


Surely.

The Australian society I grew up in as a child, that, for instance, of a small rural town, has changed dramatically in the last 40 years. Like the town, the country has been subject to such things as population shift, technological advances, job losses and adjustments.

Where once the sons and daughters of the farmers moved to the cities for education/employment, the industries that once absorbed those people have now closed down. Once hives of industry, our cities have become collectives of generational unemployed.

The migrants that were accepted into Australian society after the ravages of the World Wars were willingly accepted because there were vacancies to fill and they brought a work-ethic that was rewarded. They became assimilated into a needy society.

As cities grew, as cities and country towns became places where there were more strangers in the streets, where there were more crimes of opportunity, where people became more distanced from their immediate neighbours - a more callous attitude began to develop. A feeling of disconnection and anonymity.

Sociologists will tell you that power struggles exist between members of clans, that power struggles exist between,and amongst, tribes - but cities will always war internally. But it is Government that runs countries and enslaves its own citizens.

It is also Government that promotes the Utopian ideal of Multiculturalism.

The calls for a global peace have yet to silence the amygdala.

As individuals, all we can do is be polite to each other.


Quote:


True.

Money, power, sex or love.

Give me a little of each every day, with a beer or two, and I'd be happier than the proverbial pig.

But .........

Lionel Edriess wrote on Oct 15^th, 2013 at 11:29pm:




Lionel,

Thank you for your considered reply.

Again, i was not having a go at you.

I just wanted to highlight the the influence of 'social imperatives', which we all face, and, which act upon us all.


+++

'It is a matter of conscience.'

A social imperative which we all face in society [in this modern world], is that where we can choose to either make money, OR, we can choose do what is ethical, the widely accepted social imperative [i.e. 'ethical' choice] is that it is always socially acceptable, to choose to make money [...as the 1st imperative].

Another social imperative which we are all confronted with in society [in this modern world], is that the accepted social imperative [i.e. 'ethical' choice], is that we should remain silent, when, to say [to expose] publicly what is true, may be judged to be socially offensive [i.e. 'politically incorrect'] to someone, or, to some group of people.




And i am no saint.

We all face ethical [moral] choices in this modern world, but we all often fail to make a 'good' [the 'best'] choice.

Often we fail to make a 'good' choice because, imo, invariably, instead of making the choice which will cause 'least harm', we will choose to do, what will bring us [personally!] worldly pleasure [i.e. money, sex, social position, physical pleasure, etc].

[And some people object to their conscience even being reminded of that circumstance.]





p.s.
My diet is 70%-90% vegan [i eat fish occasionally].
And i understand that 'needs must' for omnivores, so i do not object to meat eaters using a knife to slaughter the food [the animal] that they will eat.

Annie Anthrax wrote on Oct 15^th, 2013 at 8:52pm:


Okay. Do you think that there's some other influence than introjected social mores?

Yadda wrote on Oct 16^th, 2013 at 9:45pm:



I'd like to play chess with you Annie, coz you would concede, the moment that you recognised that you had previously made some 'bad' moves.

That is correct, isn't it ?

That you are just a 'runner', 'away from' ?

[you can bite my head off,     tis OK.]

Yadda wrote on Oct 16^th, 2013 at 9:45pm:


No. I am thinking of biological inheritance.

Personal conscience = introjected social mores + biological inheritance.

Yadda wrote on Oct 16^th, 2013 at 10:00pm:



I'm more of a Scrabble girl and I don't lose when I play. I'm a hopeless strategist, though, so chess isn't my forte. My boyfriend tried to teach me, but it was all in vain, I'm afraid - I can never think further than my next move.

Postmodern Trendoid wrote on Oct 15^th, 2013 at 5:36pm:



Ie - are we free or not?

Soren wrote on Oct 17^th, 2013 at 8:34pm:


I think that just about sums of the general mindset of the cheerleading squad of the political right.

Social Darwinist, pseudo-scientific, apologistic smokescreens for ignorance, bullying and greed.