Originally Posted By: Pablo
Why do so many folks on BITOG feel the need to control others?
I'm really curious. I think it's an internet control thing.
There is "control", Pablo, and then there is the simple concept of establishing some canons of decency for behaviour by which we are all expected to adibe; as all of our business and a goodly portion of even our personal behaviour takes place within the context of our society. Respecting the liberty and freedom we all have as people born into this world is fine and is perhaps our highest ideal; but it is curtailed in a million ways to prevent our society from becoming something that is to all accounts indecent: We prohibit violence, theft and other improprieties. Gross, gratuitous, soulless, unkind, exploitative profiteering is fast becoming one of those things that we ("we" being the people who own and are solely responsible for the upkeep, constitution, identity and profile of the "society") are beginning to find abhorrent enough to say "Enough is enough: This is indecent and sick and it is an indication that our world is becoming indecent and sick. It must be fixed."
The easiest, quickest and most destructive way (that is to say, the way that is least respectful of humanity and human liberty) to re-form practices that a critical mass feels is abhorrent is to coercively and forcefully regulate that everyone must do as they are told, via laws, laws and then even more laws. This, of course, declines quickly into an equally unhealthy situation whereby those that make laws are beholden to and finally accountable to the people whose behaviour we find abhorrent in the first place. This situation is an enemy to both liberty for the individual and the collective society which it fraudulently claims to represent. There is also the unavoidable mess that happens when you try to blanket everyone with a fixed set of rules.
The more difficult way to correct a behavioural or cultural trend is to allow the power of people directly (in your capitalism, that is measured by your population's buying power and their ownership of property) to influence the zeitgeist. Here are a few examples:
We may choose to not buy a product from (an auto manufacturer) because they received gov't handouts. Since corporations have no sense of decency or moral compass (not because they are inherently evil, but because those things just aren't built into the template or model for how they are constructed and how they operate), they may respond to market forces and alter their practices.
We may choose to boycott BP gas because of their handling of the leak. Since corporations have no sense of responsibility toward keeping out habitat liveable (not because they are inherently evil, but because those things just aren't built into the template or model for how they are constructed and how they operate), they may respond to market forces and alter their practices to appease the sensitivities and values of their consumers.
We may cancel our Paypal accounts because of their treatment of the Wikileaks account. Since corporations have no reposponsibility to hold the powers of Big Brother in check (not because they are inherently evil, but because those things just aren't built into the template or model for how they are constructed and how they operate), they may respond to market forces and alter their practices to value the right of people to hold their government accountable to them instead of the other way around.
These, at least, are the direct result of people's free will to make decisions based on criteria of their choosing rather than the twisted and not-at-all-representative-of-the-wishes-and-values-of-the-people actions that governments take. These are all failures that are resultant from our own apathy and sheepishness.
Please see then, Pablo, that people's outrage at abhorrent practices is based in common decency (... Which is subjective and changes dynamically over generations. Each individual's view of what common decency is and how it should be imposed widely is as valid as the next person's, as it is a matter of opinion: It is only when a critical mass acts upon those values do we see sea changes in society.); and their call for government to regulate those practices as an understandable temptation for us all to fix things the easiest and fastest way; and the way that requires as little direct effort from us as possible!
I should add to an already long-winded post that I have zero clue about the whole "urine" angle in your original post.
EDIT: I just read the urine thread. I'm going to go take a shower now.
