Hello,
Some comments on some comments:
Platt writes about Pirsig's observation that twentieth-century
intellectual faith in man's basic goodness as spontaneous and natural is
disastrously naïve. He says, "Thus, to rely on people's 'sense of fairness' to promote individual
freedom while maintaining social order appears to me to be Utopian. What do you think? Do you a believe in the perfectibility of mankind?"
My experience is that when I rely on other people's sense of fairness, I get burned. But I rely on my own. I think mankind will slowly get close to perfection.
Ruthlessness is part of the means, as Glove well knows when he asks: "…..there is more than a hint of ruthlessness in your personal confrontation with the particular young man (my apprentice) you speak of, wouldn't you agree?"
Ruthlessness, empathy and compassion combined. Ruthlessness alone is just a cold-blooded calculation such as what the Nazi's used. Richard Budd heard this and said: 'You've gotta be kidding right??? 'Cold-blooded Intellectualism'??? No way. Unless of course you feel that executing any non-aryans is somehow an intellectually based plan."
Well, I feel like the Nazi leaders used scapegoatism to whip up their even more ignorant countrymen. They made a ghoulish mess with low-quality intellectual, heartless, half-baked logic and then coldly brought forth their final solution. A more biological level murderer would be a cannibal. The Nazis saw themselves as thinking people rather then mere cannibals. Today, people get marginalized by the corporate machines in a softer version of what the Nazi's did. My point is that the word "ruthlessness" has such a bad connotation to it because it represents intellect divorced from the heart.
And Fred sticks up for the much-maligned hippies. He writes: " If not for the hippie movement, The
Vietnam war would have lasted many more years and thousands of more lives
would have been lost to this futile and corrupt war."
Yes, Peace, Love and Understanding. And carrying a big stick. And not being naïve. And not lapsing into cold-blooded, low quality intellectual choices. All of the above, in rt sync, and laws that reflect that. Until mankind in general has developed a high proclivity for doing the right thing. And doesn't require blind adherence to the old written dharma. And can ride his bike without the training wheels.
Bill
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