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Don't blame the state or the economy.
Possibly a whole bunch of dross.

Don't blame the state or the economy.

brianjones
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Posted 10/27/09 - 07:42 PM: Subject: Don't blame the state or the economy.	#1
In my town of Melbourne- last year there was a massive protest because the government decided to legislate a 2am lock out - that would see the end to children partying till all hours of the morning every weekend. The protest was successful- and the 2am lock out was repealed 3 months after it was enforced. Brilliant- democracy at work? The intervention in northern territory by the Australian Army is a salient event. It is not treated as such- you try to discuss such a thing and the only people you can find is the people who have a vested interest in aboriginal rights, human rights, or politics. Others who don't have any clue just dismiss it as marxist rhetoric(assuming they know what marxism is). But the masses would never protest to such a thing even though the UN has deemed it a blatant violation of the Human Rights doctrine. It has not filtered its way into pop culture. I've had so much anger towards the States of this world- but now that is starting to shift. I really think that our governments decision to perpetuate this intervention is just another example of another land-grab for our lucrative mining companies (their original pretence of alleviating child sex abuse has been refuted as not one aboriginal has been charged after almost two years). But we are supporting such a decision by not doing anything about it, are we not? I want to blame people including myself- don't blame states for starting wars- if people are joining the army, dont blame states for repealing 'inalienable' rights if the people stay silent when such legislation is passed, don't blame globalisation when people are eating at MacDonald's every night. It's facilitated by us. This is probably gonna change when I read some functionalist paper again on how people are forced into 'dumbness' but for now this remains the most constructive conceptualisation of how i see the state as absolute. It really isn't at all- unless the populace tacitly says so. So I will accept blame for climate change, violations of human rights, wars, global financial crisis's, deforestation, and the polar bears!

swstephe
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Posted 10/27/09 - 11:42 PM:	#2
Maybe that is just shifting from one extreme to the other. You are fortunate that protest was even acknowledged. I was one of millions in the protest on October 2002, the largest protest in human history, (and could have demonstrated global democracy) -- mainly against the proposed invasion of Iraq. Bush and his cabinet ignored it and invaded anyway. So the blame should be on Bush, right? But over the following months, it was clear that the media continued to support the president, the illogical risk to troops, resources and national funds, and to support the reasons stated for the invasion. A populace can't react democratically if the media is constantly feeding them misinformation and hiding the real circumstances. As I traveled in and out of the country, I could feel a weird hypnotic effect. The view from outside was very different than inside the country. Then the blame should be on the media and those promoting that information leading to a state of fraud and misdirection on the people should be correct? After I left the country, however, the vote at the end of 2004 demonstrated that not only had the American populace been mainly misled, they were well informed enough to realize the mistake -- but went ahead and re-elected the person that had mislead them. Therefore, the blame now shifts back onto the people of America. About half the country disagreed with the invasion by then, but protests were ignored, ridiculed and even condemned by the most vocal speakers. The next phase would be for Americans to start some form of passive resistance or outright rebellion against the government actions. For whatever reasons, the American people, bear the moral responsibility to resist and bear the full blame for not doing so. It is easy to select one group of individuals to blame. Actually, I think it is more appropriate and more constructive to place each group into a state of shared blame. We can't condemn the state, the economy or some shadowy powerful group for our problems without blaming ourselves, as well, for enabling their existence in the first place. Sometimes the hardest thing is to confront and create conflict with your own group. To move a people, you need to show how it is acceptable and necessary.
Ethics is the measuring of morality. Morality is the measuring of good. Good is the measuring of benefit. Benefit is the measure of values.

wuliheron
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Posted 10/28/09 - 10:32 AM:	#3
I often tell people, tongue in cheek, that guilt is a terrible thing to waste. Is there a point to you accepting blame?

unrealist42
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Posted 10/30/09 - 04:37 PM:	#4
The only thing you can feel guilty for is acquiescing to something that offends you. If you don't agree with the direction your country is taking, take offense. If you feel the state is not addressing your grievances in a timely and appropriate manner and that further action is warranted, take action. It is your duty and your obligation as a citizen. Governance in democracy is dialog, the state on one side, the aggrieved citizen on the other, it is only through dialog that accommodation can be made, the state, on uneasy ground, will often yield to the citizen of righteous conviction, when pressed by unassailable arguments.

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