[Platt] Sounds like a pipe dream to me and to Pirsig: "The ideal of a harmonious society in which everyone without coercion cooperates happily with everyone else for the mutual good of all is a devastating fiction." (Lila, 24)
John: Well if not Buddhist monks, maybe Dharma Bums. But you raise good questions. How does one go about crafting a proper society when the one you're in is failing? Usually when the ship sinks, you head for the life boats, not the drawing board. But purely as an intellectual exercise, it's a fair question. Hi Platt and John, I am not pretending to know the panacea to society's ills other than following Pirsig's suggestion of the head, heart and hands stuff. The notion that: "The ideal of a harmonious society in which everyone without coercion cooperates happily with everyone else for the mutual good of all is a devastating fiction." (Lila, 24) points me to some sort of intellectual/visionary level, commonly called government, as a highly necessary one. You have elected a person with a vision who is asked to operate under very difficult circumstances, having been handed a Bush legacy of the worst, rock bottom quality imaginable. But Platt doesn't even want to give it a chance. Everything is condemned even before Obama says anything...reducing any activity aimed at social improvement as socialist...and therefore to be condemmed,regardless of its quality. The 'drawingboard' you write about John is something Platt rejects out of hand (everything is honkydory and wonderful in the US of A under the Republicans and through the Republicans and with the Republicans). As Pirsig suggests in Lila somewhere (that) the strength of the American Government is that if its policies are seen to not to work that these can/should and will be changed..try something else(.under the Democrats I think). The Republicans put their blinkers on and push the continuation of static patterns (as they relate to individuals) regardless of the social consequences. I know I am cutting many corners here but the Pirsig quote used seems to me to be pointing to the need for a solid form of government leadership with VISION...something that has been lacking overhere (Europe) as well for many decades. This may be a nice start and then you can begin by changing the education system. Andre Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
