On 1/14/14, 3:07 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
If the 1% dedicate themselves to (also) improving the lives of the 10%
who are "almost peers", so that said 10% will have the resources to do
the same for the 50% who are *their* "almost peers", recursively on
down, then I think we have a chance.
Perhaps knowing a bit more about Glen's personality than other people
here might, I can imagine Glen having a matter-of-fact conversation with
a homeless not-all-who-wonder-are-lost sort of person. I have also had
interesting, enriching conversations with people who I think may be
teetering toward mental illness for understandable environment reasons
(but otherwise seem fine), or at least are way out of the norm in the
topics they talk about or the expectations they have from other
people. I find that engaging from time to time. Raw. Low order.
Isolated.
I want to suppose these people are independent agents that I don't
understand and have no obligation to. The suspicion of the park project
comes from a suspicion that you don't know what "improving" (above)
really means even though you advocate some sort of mass action.
There's no one direction to go in. All of these people making the
world a better place could easily cancel each other out. That value
system (if there is _one_ and it isn't just a vague recommendation) is
yours and if you don't disentangle your "enlightened self interest" from
what the needs in that community are in an detached empirical way, you
may be deluding yourself. I prefer the sort of coercive liberal agendas
like I advocate, because I think I make it clear when I have an axe to
grind. I'm not sure about the meta self-knowledge of these local
community organizers. I am suspicious they may be bullies in disguise,
but just so impotent that all they can pull off are small local
renovation projects. It is a proxy for the impact they wish they had.
Marcus
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
