From: Eric Armstrong <eric.armstrong@eng.sun.com>
John \"sb\" Werneken wrote:
> ...if it were true that those adopting the "memes" of modern
> democratic capitalism were thus able to act more in accord with their
> environment, as perhaps evidenced by a higher standard of material
> living or personal freedom, then probably more individuals would adopt
> that "meme" and some persons would find themselves switching views or
> "memes" away from a 'collectivist meme", towards a 'democratic
> capitalist meme'.
> ....I tend to think that our Ethics or spiritual-religious value
> systems are our BEST accomplishment.
> ...
> I see OHS/DKR as being particularly qualified to help individuals
> share with other individuals so as to better define ends, as well as
> to improve the capability of improving means.
> ...I see OHS/DKR making inroads through professional societies and
> through some large corporate and governmental organizations. Spreading
> like the PC did. [With a similar serendipitous empowerment of the
> individual.]...
> That's how I see OHS/DKR spreading: bankers (or whoever) will fund
> development and adoption of tools ... As the tools develop and are
> widely adopted, they will be used in ways that I suspect will be
> largely unforeseen
> ....
> Sorry for long rant, yur post just got me all fired up.
Damn good rant.
I would be most interested in a discussion that surfaced mechanisms for
propogating a "meme" which caused more people to act "more in accord
with their environment", and more in accord with each other's best
interests, than is presently the case.
Such a discussion might be similar in outline to the energy-problem
discussion.
At a minimum it would include:
* Problem Statement
* Tactical Approaches
* Possible Strategies
Under problem statment, I'd see a discussion that clarifies the
question, "What is it that we want to do?" Possibly the first step is
carry on a discussion about the ethical principle(s) we need to promote.
The best non-denominational formulation I've arrived at so far is: "If
everyone did what I'm doing, would we all be better off?"
(The interesting aspect of that formulation is the multiple levels of
abstraction that can be applied to "what I'm doing". Is "What I'm doing"
Under Tactics, I'd see possibilities like:
* Education (formal, public interest advertising, ...)
* Community Building
* Economic Incentives and Regulation
* ...
Under strategies, I'd see proposals for combinations of tactical
elements, most probably with indications of how changes in the external
environment will support or hinder such efforts.
For example, rising gasoline prices will:
* Motivate people to live closer to work (or telecommute), and travel
less
* Motivate people to live within walking/cycling distance of stores
* Motivate community builders to mix
housing/industry/retail/entertainment
in "company town"-style developments (without the onerous aspects of
their historical precursors)
* Produce more "fellow feeling" resulting from the sense of community
that dervives from the increased frequency and duration of social
interactions
In addition, rising gasoline prices will:
* Increase the incentives for plastics recyling, to reduce reliance on
oil.
* Increase the awareness of the environment (as such efforts already
have)
(Watching kids educational programming, in fact, I am encouraged by the
number grammar school kids who are learning about the environment and
how to minimize our impact on it. I think the succeeding generations are
already far more attuned to this issue than any previous generation.)
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0.0 : Tue Aug 21 2001 - 18:56:41 PDT