Turning to the East for guidance

Nov 09, 2009 07:04



What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris?  What's the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?

-Buddha

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mharrawo November 14 2009, 21:33:56 UTC
Well, you have nicely stated the problem. While I can't reproach Shakespeare for not writing a feminist comedy I do feel that the grinning assholes at the lynchings ought just to have known better. This, by the way, is totally the point of Hannah Arendt's book Eichmann in Jerusalem is about. There is a point in The Plague where a character says "All I know is that there are people and there are pestilences and our it is our duty, in so far as possible, not to take sides with the pestilences." I think I get this, especially in the context of The Occupation or The Holocaust, in which Camus and Arendt write.

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shesnoemu November 14 2009, 23:17:51 UTC
I don't think we're having the same conversation really. Or rather, these are very different contexts that probably shouldn't be compared. But I have to say that most decent people wouldn't enjoy seeing another person humiliated, hurt, tortured or murdered. Then again, something like the abortion issue seems to be one of those examples of situations that the grey area takes effect. It's ok to murder a human being if they are involved in helping women have abortions, because in the end human life is precious. It's in the Bible! See where the logic goes with that one! People find ways to excuse or justify their behavior, even if it is appalling to others. Did you see the film "The Reader"?

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shesnoemu November 14 2009, 23:22:30 UTC
I've witnessed quite a lot of selfish behavior this year. I've found myself on the receiving end of quite a bit of it actually. What I have noticed is that most of these individuals consider themselves to be decent, loving, Gd fearing people, but then suddenly they feel jealous, or they feel slighted or wronged or they are upset because you aren't behaving the way they want you. Maybe they feel you are attacking their belief system? Who knows. Language and human behavior are complicated. It's easy for someone to justify throwing another human being out of their apartment without notice because they have decided they don't want you there anymore. Does that mean it's the kind, fair or just thing to do?

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shesnoemu November 14 2009, 23:28:58 UTC
Maybe the easiest thing to assume is that people aren't decent or kind. That in the end, were are driven more by self-preservation and self-centered motives. It's taking a very Hobbesian approach to human behavior I suppose, but perhaps it's true. I used to assume that most individuals knew how to treat others respectfully but I've found that isn't true. Sometimes the behavior is out of misunderstanding, sometimes it's done out of jealousy or hostility, sometimes it's just pure cold-hearted, sadistic behavior. Why though? Maybe these individuals have all been hurt and are afraid of vulnerability in some way or they are insecure about themselves and have found ways to build up their defenses. I don't know. I don't claim to understand it at all.

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shesnoemu November 15 2009, 00:06:37 UTC
Perhaps the best one can do is to learn to respond to terrible behavior without acrimony. To try, in the midst of war, heartbreak and terrifying behavior, to control our base emotional response. It's difficult to detach oneself in such a way as most humans want to connect to each other and will do so by fighting as well as by loving.

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