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the 'it' in bullshit
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Dog 3000
Dog 3000
4611 posts

Re: Freedom from X vs Y
Sep 20, 2003, 20:10
This is pretty interesting stuff. I guess the underlying assumptions that differ in our world views have to do with such things as the fact that I don't feel threatened by "freedom", I cherish it -- and I am not afraid of other people etiher (even ones with a different skin tone or sexual orientation.)

I know I am lucky. I am self-employed, meaning "my own boss." I don't make a lot of money, but enough to get by. I have chosen to live where I do, and can travel when and where I want to. I can express my political opinions to "thousands" by posting stuff on internet forums (this isn't the main one I hang out in.) I can smoke weed and play in a rocknroll band. I doubt any of the above would be true if I lived in the Soviet Union (I'm sure Stalin would have thrown me in the gulag or worse.)

I am optimistic about human nature, but pragmatic at the same time. Ever seen the film "Night of the Hunter" where Robt Mitchum makes the speech about having "love" and "hate" tattooed on his knuckles (reprised by the Radio Rahim character in "Do The Right Thing)? I think that's a pretty profound way of looking at human nature -- it's a constant battle between our good and bad instincts inside every individual.

On to man vs nature -- you could say the "bad" instincts are the natural, competitive ones. The "good" impulses are the civilized, "man-made" ones. (Or as Camille Paglia put it, "we're not born good and learn to be bad, we're born bad and learn to be good.")

We are "more than the animals" largely to the extent we've come up with cultural and moral codes that encourage us to "love one another and work together." Turn on any nature show and you'll see different species of animals killing & eating each other, female spiders devouring their mates, male animals fighting each other for supremacy in the group hierarchy. I think this is the "natural state" of homo sapiens, and to the extent those tendencies are reduced it's "what we learn from birth" that is responsible.

This may be the key underlying difference in our viewpoints.

"Capitalism" has little to do with any of this. You show me just about any "evil of capitalism" and I can demonstrate to you that it's been an aspect of human society since long before "capitalism" existed (born c. 1800).
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Freedom from X vs Y (morfe)		 Replies:
Re: Freedom from X vs Y (Lawrence)
Re: Freedom from X vs Y (morfe)
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