Eva Durant wrote:
>
> >
> > I saw one estimate that behavior was 1/.3 genetic, 1/3 family, and 1/3
> > culture. The point is that if we are ever going to solve these problems, we
> > are going to have to stop making excuses and start dealing with people as
> > they really are: animals.
> >
>
> If it is only one-third genetic, then only 1/3 animal.
> Back to the conscious control of the social/economic
> environment that determines the family and the culture...
[snip]
I think the question is: Which side and society and the
family on? Are they preflective ethnicity which, for
all practical purposes is as natural as genetic
inheritance, and which -- as long as we're into metaphors --
looks a lot like a semiotic virus which infects persons
to perpetuate itself ("social customs", from FGM to the
Free Market, etc.)?
Only when family and culture teach the individual to
adopt a critical/reflective stance vis-a-vis themselves
(and everything else...)
do they rise above the unaccountable
anonymity of the Unconscious to true selfhood which
is the capacity to give(and the passion for
giving...) an accounting for oneself:
"Yes, we have raised you. But that doesn't mean we've
done what's right. You must scrutinize this social
world in which you find yourself, and see how far you find it
truly good, and you should seek all possible outside
perspectives to help you get as rich a possible
basis for your critical evaluation of us. Of course
we hope you will approve of how we have treated you, and
that you will want to contribute into the continued
development of *our* society. But we'll try to be
more suspicious of your compliments and more
receptive to your criticisms. And, so long as we can
afford it, we'll try to work with you if you don't like
how we've treated you, for you had no choice where
you were born and reared, and, now,
there may well be nowhere better for you to go. Of
course such tolerance must have its limits, but it
is the role of power to dispense largesse, not of
weakness to be made even weaker in the service of power."
*We* will keep trying, and we hope you will choose
to help...."
Well, how many "cultures" address each child and
worker that way every day? Those that
do have either risen above animality, or ennobled
animality to a new height, however you wish to use
words. Mens sana in corpore sano is a delight
for both self and others.
\brad mccormick
--
Mankind is not the master of all the stuff that exists, but
Everyman (woman, child) is a judge of the world.
Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua, NY 10514-3403 USA
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