From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Mon Oct 27 2003 - 14:04:32 GMT
Hi Wim, Bo:
Both of you seem to believe that social values are permanent. For
instance, Bo writes, " ... social value is something terribly archaic
that can't be changed." I disagree. In Chap. 3 of Lila, Pirsig pointed
out:
"Of all the contributions America has made to the history of the world,
the idea of freedom from a social hierarchy has been the greatest. It
was fought for in the American Revolution and confirmed in the Civil
War. To this day it's still the most powerful, compelling ideal holding
the whole nation together."
What holds nations together are social values, and obviously the ideals
that are at the root of social values can and do change. For nearly a
century, the Marxist ideal held Russia together, backed by the
government-sanctioned slaughter of of millions. Today, the social
values that hold Russia together are capitalism, a fledgling free
market and rights to private property.
Currently many of the social values that hold Iraq together are
undergoing radical change, over the objection of the social values of
Islamo-fascism.
From ancient Greece to the American experiment, history might said to
be a study of changes in social values. Societies evolve towards
greater awareness and freedom under the same drive for Quality that
influenced inorganic and biological forms.
Platt
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