Archives for category: altruism
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‘Equality’ versus ‘Equal Breadth of Opportunity’

January 27, 2016 //
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I recently shared this meme on my FB wall:

when_i_was_poor_and_i_complained_about_inequality_they_said_i_was_bitter_2014-07-23

This is what happened next:
“No two people are the same.“”That’s why I prefer equal opportunities instead of equality.”
“No two opportunities are the same. What you might consider an opportunity I might pass up. It’s a very diverse world we live in, a wide one in which hopefully everyone can be accommodated.”

‘Can be’ or ‘will be’?

And who is the real looser here?

Let’s see what the broad picture looks like:

“The world’s super-rich have taken advantage of lax tax rules to siphon off at least $21 trillion, and possibly as much as $32tn, from their home countries and hide it abroad – a sum larger than the entire American economy.”

Meanwhile

education debt

And what’s wrong with that?!?
Everyone has the right to do what ever he wants with his money and why should anyone expect to be educated for free?!?

OK, let me put it differently.

Every society is like a big community, even if its members do not share an intimate knowledge of each-other.
At least theoretically an overwhelming majority of any nation share the same set of values and the same goal – the long term survival of both the population and the afore mentioned set of values.

Now please consider which society would be better at the game of survival:

One which would make it easier for as many of its members to develop as much of their individual potential as possible or one that would make it easier for a small number of its members to spirit away so much wealth that the rest would remain crippled?

One which would use the very concept of a ‘free market’ as broadly as possible – make sure that as many as possible of its members enjoy the widest possible autonomy – or one that would allow the ‘never as free as advertised’ market to degenerate into the ‘winner takes it all‘ situation we are bound to reach if we continue on our present course?

How could enough people afford to ‘wander around’ for long enough to find the opportunities that would fit them if they are saddled at birth with a huge burden – the ever burgeoning national debt?
Would enough people risk to take on any additional debt (in order to prepare themselves to make better use of the opportunities they might find) if too many of those opportunities, even if met diligently, do not pay enough to ‘eat’ AND pay back the debt?

How is a society going to survive, let alone thrive, if a lot of ‘opportunities’ (social needs) end up being ‘plugged’ by unfitting/under-skilled/’less than enthusiastic’ individuals? Or not at all?

On the ‘supply side’, what do you think of those who choose to dodge paying taxes?
On the ‘demand side’, what do you think of those who squander public money as if there is no tomorrow?

So what should we be talking about? Equality or Equal Breadth of Opportunity?
About the Bed of Procrustes or about a ‘Free Market’ where all participants are simultaneously autonomous and fully aware of their responsibility for their children’s future?

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Categories 1989 and the Global Financial Crisises., altruism, Choices we make, collective identity, corruption, Economy, Frames of mind, man induced fragility, Money as goal, Mutual Respect, Politically induced fragility, The kind of world we live in, Trust

#BlackLivesMatter

January 26, 2016 //
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lp
“A day after Leela moved in, she came home visibly upset. I asked what happened. Apparently, the doorman had blocked her from entering the building, refusing to believe that the keys she was carrying were legitimately hers. She had to convince him to check the approved tenants list before he allowed her to go to her own home.The incidents piled up. Things that may seem small to someone who doesn’t endure these experiences, but that in aggregate soured her daily life. The cabs that wouldn’t stop when she tried to hail them but hit the brakes and backed up when they saw she was with me. The clerks asking her to verify her ID every time she presented a credit card. The smiles at me from neighbors and barely concealed scowls at her when I turned away. The usual catcalls and crude comments when she walked alone. It quickly became clear that although we shared the same day to day life, her existence was profoundly different from mine.

The event that brought it to a head was when she pressed ‘PH’ in the elevator and the other occupant, a white male, asked which penthouse apartment she was going to clean. The idea that she lived there didn’t occur to him. When I heard about it, my indignation was palpable. It was the indignation and disrespect she lived with every day and that was alien to me.”
….
“What I didn’t realize was that we are stuck in our own heads far more than we can appreciate and that empathy has limitations. As a white male, I can convince myself that I understand racism and sexism, but it’s far more intellectual than visceral. My point of view is distorted by the culture I exist in.”
Peter Daou, “My Rude Awakening on White Males, Brown Females and #BlackLivesMatter“

Now consider this:
Mothers usually have a ‘disproportionate’ influence over their (small) children.
This translates into the psychological well being of the mothers having a huge influence on the general behavior of the next generation.
In a so called ‘normal’ family – composed of a father and a mother – whatever ‘bad moments’ that happen to the mother can, and sometimes even are, mitigated by the father.
But the sad reality is that there are a lot more Afro-American single mothers than white single mothers – relative to the demographic composition of the population.
And we still wonder about how come the Afro-American teenagers and young adults are the cause of so many unpleasant incidents – relative to the demographic composition of the population, of course…
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Categories altruism, Choices we make, collective identity, Frames of mind, gender roles, human rights, limited rationality, Mutual Respect, Psychology, Social justice, The kind of world we live in

C’est de plus en plus difficile d’etre Charlie.

January 18, 2016 //
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tripoteur de fesses en allemagne

‘J’ai etait Charlie’ when the barbarians tried to silence it.
Not because I agreed with everything that was published there but because I believe that it’s unacceptable to try to kill somebody – unless that somebody tries to murder you, of course.

Having said that I must confess that I find it harder and harder to understand what’s going on in Charlie’s mind.

“Charlie doit être là où les autres n’osent pas aller. Pour cette couverture, je voulais dépasser telle ou telle religion et toucher à des choses plus fondamentales. (…) En affirmant les choses clairement, ça fait réfléchir. Il faut bousculer un peu les gens, sinon ils restent sur leurs rails”

(Charlie must go where others do not dare to. For that I’m willing to leave behind specific religious ideas and reach deeper levels. … By speaking frankly (about a subject) one can convince the others to take the matter into consideration. Sometime you need to jolt people (outside their comfort zone) otherwise they’ll stay put on their tracks).

OK, I can agree with that. Even if I think that some of the ‘jolts’ are distasteful, to say the least,  the principle is correct.
But there is a small problem here. If the jolt is too powerful the target will not get just outside its comfort zone – and into the ‘thinking mode’ – but directly into a full-fledged rage. A state of mind which rejects reason and sends the brain into a frenzy, looking for arguments with which to annihilate the original message.

2233252_136_charlie

This, for instance, might be considered rude but it’s impersonal enough to prod some individuals into considering whether following blindly into someone’s steps  – just because that someone pretends to have God’s blessing – might be a wise thing to do.
In fact this message works precisely because it offers food for thought. Each of the viewers might interpret it according to their own ‘Weltanschauung’ but the ultimate responsibility for the interpretation lies with the viewer, not with the cartoonist.

This is why I can’t agree with the cartoon about Aylan.
There is no option there. The message is clear. Aylan would have grown up to be a sex-molester, no doubt about that – at least in the eyes of the cartoonist.

And this just isn’t fair.
Because killing hope is a lot worse than actual murder.

Yes, we need to take great care about how we help the migrants to find a place among us. No doubt about that.
The point being that corralling them into a ghetto won’t solve anything. On the contrary.

“When it comes to assimilating new arrivals, Europe could learn a thing or two from America, which has a better record in this regard. It is not “culturally imperialist” to teach migrants that they must respect both the law and local norms such as tolerance and sexual equality. And it is essential to make it as easy as possible for them to work. This serves an economic purpose: young foreign workers more than pay their way and can help solve the problem of an ageing Europe. It also serves a cultural one: immigrants who work assimilate far more quickly than those who are forced to sit around in ghettos. In the long run most children of migrants will adopt core European values, but the short run matters too.” (The Economist, Migrant Men and European Women, Jan 16th, 2016)

 

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Categories altruism, Choices we make, collective identity, cooperation, effective communication, Frames of mind, human rights, limited rationality, Mutual Respect, Psychology, religion, The kind of world we live in, Trust

The law of the (not so) unintended (unforseeable) consequences

January 11, 2016 //
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S

Somebody shared a video – where two senior citizens swing their golf clubs at some rather idiotic pranksters – on FB

golf prank

and captioned it “Don’t mess with old dudes and their balls…”

This made me wonder ‘what on Earth are we doing to ourselves?’ As a species, I mean.
OK, those kids did a rather stupid thing, indeed.
But let’s not forget that they have been raised by people not so very different from those golf players – statistically speaking, of course.
And where is the difference between what those two kids have done and the ‘practical jokes’ that are aired ad nauseam by most TV stations? Owned and run by individuals very much like those two annoyed ‘senior citizens. Who were enraged enough to swing their ‘irons’ at the pranksters, risking serious injuries…

How much lower can we get?

devil prank

PS.
Somebody pointed me to this. You might say there is no connection between these two private-jet loving ministers and the pranksters but don’t think they all display the same level of callousness towards the rest of the people?

private jet loving ministers

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Categories altruism, authoritarianism, Choices we make, collective identity, cooperation, forgiveness, Frames of mind, limited rationality, Mutual Respect, Psychology, Social justice, The kind of world we live in

“In dubious battle”.

January 4, 2016 //
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quote-a-nation-that-is-afraid-to-let-its-people-judge-the-truth-and-falsehood-in-an-open-market-is-a-john-f-kennedy-100676

There is undeniable truth in here but there is also a considerable amount of confusion.

Whenever truth is hidden behind the words instead of being openly discussed among those who deal information pertaining to a particular situation all those involved will eventually suffer the consequences of their deceptions.
This is something that has been common knowledge for sometime now yet there still are too many individuals who think they can ‘beat the market’ on this.

This is the true part.

What makes me wonder is how come a nation may become afraid of its own people? Isn’t this an oxymoron of sorts?
Or is it that only some members of that nation have become afraid that their deceptions will become apparent to the rest of the people?

“ I have used a small strike in an orchard valley as the symbol of man’s eternal, bitter warfare with himself.” (John Steinbeck, in a letter to George Albee)

Why on Earth had Kennedy chosen to beat around the bush instead of speaking out in plain English? It didn’t much good for him anyway, isn’t it?

Why are so many of us still following this policy?
Why are so many nations that allow this to happen?

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Categories altruism, Choices we make, collective identity, democracy, Frames of mind, limited rationality, man induced fragility, Mutual Respect, Psychology, Social justice, The kind of world we live in

“I.Don’t.Care.”

December 8, 2015 //
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ban muslims

A lot of pundits on both sides of the aisle are bending over backwards trying to explain how come Trump has captured so many ‘hearts and souls’.

Here’s a very poignant explanation from a seemingly independent minded, hence free, commentator who calls himself Tonkerdog1:

“The left will revulse at this and rightly so, but he is only appealing because the masses have had their culture irrevocably changed, by the policies and plans of that very left. They won’t take this anymore.

Frank Luntz, the Republican’s spin doctor, concurs:

“This is a different cat. This is a different phenomenon,” Luntz told reporters after conducting the focus group. “This is real. I’m having trouble processing it. Like, my legs are shaking,” he added.

“I want to put the Republican leadership behind this mirror and let them see. They need to wake up. They don’t realize how the grassroots have abandoned them. Donald Trump is punishment to a Republican elite that wasn’t listening to their grassroots.”

What we seem to have here is a classic case of people so fed up with what they perceive as happening around them that they fall for the first con man callous enough to grab the opportunity.

I’m not going to bore you with facts about how many times Trump changed his mind and things like that. You can read them by yourself. Just click here. I’m not even going to ask you why didn’t you saw this coming when he said that:

‘You have to take out their families’

What I am going to ask you is:

What if he’s actually sincere when he says that he doesn’t really care (for anything else but his own ego)?

And why should he?

““We need a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States while we figure out what the hell is going on,” he said, prompting a huge roar. The crowd of about 500 Trump faithful stood up as one and bellowed its approval.”

It seems that his ‘bellowing’ followers do not read much.
“Trump Wrongs the Right”?
So what?
The Internet is choke full with ‘the Media is full of shit’ messages. Why should people start believing what the media publishes now?

When are we going to understand that the Trumps of this world don’t come out of the blue?
Not a single one of them could have become what he is today without enough of us giving him a lot of credit.

Despite the fact that not a single one of them cares a iota about any of us.

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Categories altruism, Choices we make, collective identity, democracy, Frames of mind, limited rationality, man induced fragility, Mutual Respect, politically correct, Psychology, The kind of world we live in

We’re in it together

December 6, 2015 //
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Does any of you remember the final ‘battle’ in Spiderman 3?

Not the special effects and not even the reconciliation between Peter and Harry. Or that between Peter and Flint Marko.

Do you remember how the ‘people of New York’ and the media were watching the encounter as if it was a MMA fight?

As if the outcome was of no importance for any of them?

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Categories altruism, collective identity, democracy, Frames of mind, Psychology

Somnul Ratiunii Politice Naste Monstri

December 1, 2015 //
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#colectiv

“Daca vedeti asa ceva prin oras,rupeti-le.Nu ii lasati sa profite de pe urma durerii noastre.“

Iar cel al ratiunii civice le permite acestora sa supravietuiasca.

Dupa ce reactia initiala la tragedia din clubul Colectiv s-a mai estompat oamenii au inceput sa actioneze asa-zis rational.
Unii au tratat situatia ca pe o ocazie si au incercat sa profite de ea iar altora a inceput sa li se faca frica ca nu cumva sa fie luati de fraieri.

A profita nu este deloc rusinos, cu conditia sa o faci decent. Adica fara sa inseli pe cineva.
A nu te lasa fraierit este de-a dreptul meritoriu, cu conditia sa nu cazi in aceiasi capcana ca profitorul ‘oneros’.

Mie unuia mi se pare ca numele de ‘Partid Colectiv’ este foarte bun, din punct de vedere al marketingului politic, dar foarte nepotrivit in aceasta situatie. Dupa cum la fel de nepotrivit mi se pare, din punct de vedere democratic, indemnul de a rupe niste afise politice.
Daca nu iti convine ce se intampla intr-un partid politic poti oricand sa te inscrii in el si sa incerci sa-i schimbi orientarea.
Sau sa infiintezi un altul si sa convingi electoratul ca varianta ta este mai buna.

Daca te apuci sa rupi afise nu faci decat sa le dai dreptate celor care sustin ca singura cale de a asigura functionarea societatii este cea ‘autoritara’.

” To keep tabs on a radical political group, send a spy; to disrupt them, send an agent provocateur; to destroy them, send no one but lead them to believe they’ve been infiltrated.“

 

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Categories alegerile pe care le facem, altruism, identitate colectiva, politica, rationalitate limitata, respect reciproc

Saudi, not Islamic, justice in action.

November 30, 2015 //
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lashes1-copy-300x210
“A woman who was violently gang raped in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail after being found guilty of indecency and talk to the media.”
If we want to understand what’s going on there we have realize that we are dealing with a absolute dictatorship which uses Islam as a crutch, exactly as the soviet style dictators in the so called ‘popular democracies’ were using ‘scientific materialism’ – their term for the communist doctrine.
The job of the Saudi ‘justices’ is to maintain ‘the order’ as they see fit – the kingdom as it is and the Saudi family in power, not at all to dispense justice as we know it.
In order to do that they use, ‘creativelly’, the most powerfull tool they have at their disposal: the faith shared by the majority of the inhabitants of the kindom.
It even doesn’t matter for them that in the process they are ruining any chance of a decent life for the majority of their conationals.
At first their only goal was to retain the graces of the ruling family – just as minions everywhere behave in the presence of a powerfull figure.
In time things have evolved in a malignant manner. I’m afraid that nowadays the House of Saud itself has become the prisoner of the erstwhile minions, just as every dictator eventually becomes the prisoner of his guards.
“Please note: The rape victim and her male companion were pardoned by the late King Abdullah in Dec 2007.“
And this is a comment that can be read at the bottom of the article I was quoting:
“I’m a bit confused by this story. At the bottom it says that the rape victim and her companion were pardoned by King Abdulla in 2006. Is this a new development? Wasn’t she pardoned? (Not withstanding the idiocy of the Saudi laws, I don’t understand what’s actually happening here….)”
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Categories altruism, authoritarianism, Choices we make, collective identity, corruption, Frames of mind, gender roles, human rights, Mutual Respect, Politically induced fragility, politics, Psychology, Rule of Law, Social justice, The kind of world we live in

How about more determined citizens?

November 19, 2015 //
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armed citizens
Terrorism needs three things in order to produce victims.
Some disgruntled/deranged individuals to perpetrate the actual crimes.
Some callous individuals who for various reasons organize/support the disgruntled/deranged.
A large enough section of the community which is too tired/despondent/discouraged to care about what’s going on in its close vicinity – that’s where the terrorists (hit men and the support network) hide while preparing a hit and where the support network will try to sink itself afterwards.
Since it is practically impossible to corral all the deranged and to smoke out all the schemers beforehand the only really viable strategy  remains to make it so that the general public no longer assists catatonically to whatever is happening in its close vicinity. Until it’s so late that even drawing a gun is no longer very helpful.

I don’t even think that arms are such a must.
They might come handy in certain occasions but what we really need is a much more active attitude. A calm and considerate one but firm enough to impose respect.


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Categories altruism, Choices we make, collective identity, cooperation, democracy, Frames of mind, Social justice, Trust
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