Thought du jour - 10 October 2011

"I foresee a future in which memories - real and simulated - are routinely swapped between consenting (and not-so-consenting) parties. What will this do to the concept of empathy? Will we become more or less 'human'?" - Mac Tonnies

Signposts: A Taxing Problem

I took this picture in London in 2009, but given the way the economy is going in the United States, and the ever-growing problem of homelessness, I suspect we'll be seeing more and more of these signs south of the border in the months and years to come, particularly as the homeless are virtually ignored in Washington, where tax and spending cuts are all that anyone wants to discuss. 

It reminds me of a question that a professor of mine posed to the class on the first day of first year criminal law. "If there was a law," he asked, "that stated it was illegal for anyone to sleep under a bridge, would that be a fair law?" As it seemed to apply equally to everyone, all of us students seemed to think that it was indeed fair. To which the professor asked: "How many rich people have to sleep under a bridge?"

In other words, while such a law would purport to apply to everyone equally, it would in fact be applicable only to homeless people. While it might appear to be a fair, equal law in principle, it wasn't a fair law in practice. As Anatole France wrote: "La majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain."

I see the same kind of reasoning applied to defend tax cuts in the United States, by people who seek to further the interests of the wealthy, at the expense of everyone else. On the surface, and in general, these cuts seem to apply to everyone (although specific cuts and exemptions obviously only apply to certain groups), and that's how they're presented to the public. But it's a sham equality, just as a law against sleeping under the bridge is a sham equality. Tax cuts disproportionately benefit the wealthiest members of society, and they have no meaningful impact whatsoever on the vast majority of people, particularly the poor. But for the wealthy and their "front men" (i.e. politicians), if a few more people wind up sleeping under bridges so that they can make even more money, c'est la vie. Besides, they can always pass a law to prohibit it, and present it as the height of fairness, just as they do with tax cuts.

And if the world goes to hell after they're gone, I'm sure they would agree with Louis XIV - "apres moi, le deluge".

Paul Kimball

Empathy

A timely lecture by sociologist Sam Richards for a society where empathy, which I am convinced is the one characteristic that sets us apart from the animals, is in increasingly short supply. As we advance technologically, and perhaps eventually move out towards the stars, we may meet an advanced intelligence of some sort. If and when that day comes, the example Richards poses vis-a-vis the Chinese and the United States is one worth remembering, even as we hope that any species we would meet has developed the empathic consciousness as a society that we have yet to embrace, or even really understand.

Paul Kimball

A Thousand Words - The American Dream

Westwood, Los Angeles - June 2011





True Love Ways - Darkest Hour

Here I am performing my song "Darkest Hour" in Williams, Arizona, in September, 2007.

"There's a vision
from the edge
it comes to you
as you lie asleep
in your bed.

You feel alone
you're unable to move
you've been wounded
by the things
that he's said.

I wish I could share
this hurt
and take your pain away
or at least be your comfort
when you awake.

It's 3 am
still hours from light
the darkest moment
of the soul.

I want to be
with you tonight
to give you
to give you
someone to hold."

What is love, at its core?

Empathy.

Paul Kimball

Social Media and Evolving Consciousness

Earlier today I speculated about the problems with what I see as a growing "surveillance society", where people are willing - indeed, eager - to surrender their privacy in order to achieve some false sense of belonging.

That's not alarmist hyperbole, in my opinion - just an observation, upon which I placed at least a couple of caveats.

But for every yin there is a yang.

Social media / networking also has the potential to lead to something wonderful - an empathic society.

I think the  possibility exists that as we move further along in terms of technological development, which will enable us to share more of ourselves with each other, we may also move further along in terms of empathic development, to the point that our individualistic "sense of identity" could be broadened to a much more communal outlook.

It really comes down to a question of human nature, I suppose. The "surveillance society" of which I wrote is shallow, and dangerous, and at the moment all too real. But there is also a very real opportunity here, where eventually something deeper and more lasting will emerge that will truly change the way we view ourselves, and each other, for the better.  

Accordingly, while we should be cautious in our use of the new social media, as is the case with any new technology, that doesn't mean that we should reject it. Indeed, we should embrace it, but for the right reason - to achieve meaningful communication with each other, and through that a greater understanding of who we are, both as individuals, and as a society. 

Paul Kimball