What separates us from the other

Well,  we had our Ideas Cafe meeting this evening and the discussion went down different paths than what I was anticipating.  This is what makes the meetings so interesting.  You can never tell ahead of time how it is going to go.

To mention a few of the ideas,

1.  Mano thought that we will always have a mix of us and them.  We belong to many communities and each of these communities include and exclude many of the same people based on our shared purposes and interests.  When asked how we manage all these different lines,  Mano's answer is that we "muddle through" (!!!??)

2.  We cannot have a self without the other as a contrast and comparison.

3.  We may not want to eliminate the dividing lines between us and other as we do not want all of us to be the same.  There will be no diversity,  no difference of opinions to benefit from.

4.  Equality of human rights and opportunity is a political or normative concept.  It is something that most of us have come to accept as the way we can best get along in a social group, society, or community.  It was not always this way nor does it have to stay this way but so far it is the most stable and equitable way.

5.  While we may feel that we should share some of our wealth in our developed society with those less fortunate in the developing societies,  it is not money, or resources that will help them the most.  It is education that will give them get the best long term improvement.

It occurred to me afterwards that as social animals,  we humans crave the community with others.  Yet we have self preservation instincts that are constantly at odds with the interests of our social instincts within our community.

The community boundary that separates us from the other is in a similar conflict.  We want to preserve the interest of the community while at the same time we also want to belong to other communities and the interests of the various communities that we belong to sometimes conflict.

Muddling through may not be the nice sounding way to handle it.  Maybe we should say that we should exercise our discretion in managing these conflict to the greater good of our own interest, our community's interests and to the interest of all the communities we belong to.

How is that for a political statement that covers all basis but satisfies no one?