[John] Collectives are Homotheistic, as is all fascism.... Communism is Homotheistic.
[Arlo] What you are describing is better understood as "structuration", and is as much a "factor" in capitalistic and democratic (and all social groups) as the "evil" ones you attempt to single out. Indeed, John, such pandering to strawmen is beneath you. "Structuration" (in general, there are specific theories) basically sees that the assimilation of symbolic patterns (social and/or intellectual) provides not just the means to see, but also the manner. In enculturating the shared collective history of our culture/society(ies) we ipso facto assimilate a broader manner that "structures" the patterns we replicate and produce. For one small example, when you, as a child, learn the word "privacy" you likely learned a shared association with things like "good", and "respect". The same term in Russia, learned by children, brings an association of "sneakiness", "underhandedness" and "deceit". This isn't some "guvmint" conspiracy, and it is not the effect of The Great Big Bugbear of P.C., but cultural associations that date back hundreds and hundreds of years (if not more). The simple act of assimilating shared cultural symbols (via books, parents, televisions, peers, studies, reports, hanging out listening to stories in bars, etc.) shapes (structurates) the way we then use these symbols to replicate OUR world. The tensions between "structuration" and "agency", I feel, parallel in many ways the SQ/DQ of the MOQ, but moreso illuminates the field in which intellectual patterns emerge (social patterns). As I've said before here, painting this as "negative" is inane, as it both constrains AND enables. Without our assimilation into the shared dialogue of our culture, we are left as biological organisms living in the jungle (and I don't mean L.A.). "20th century French culture exists, therefore I think, therefore I am", another of Pirsig's insights. 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/
