Caltrops - Biohazard: Code Veronica





	[quote name="Senor Barborito MetaFilter Post"][quote]Strong families are an outstanding way for people to benefit society by exercising their liberty to subordinate their own interests to help their family members. Plus it has the bonus of a strong biological, psychological and emotional bond.[/quote] This is what I disagree with. Strong families mean that communal-interest is relegated to a select few individuals rather than the society as a whole. Furthermore bonds on the basis of biology, emotion, or religion are going to result in decisions that may be intellectually and logically unsupported - the sacrifice of a thousand individuals for one's family, etc. [quote]Sure, you could just do away with families and have the government reorganize things with some sort of buddy system or something, but why? What would be the benefit?[/quote] A government-mandated buddy system would be an unmitigated disaster beyond imagining. If we took the opposite extreme, even vat-grown clones educated through identical direct mental downloads would be subject to the butterfly effect resulting in wildly different and often incompatible individual personalities. One societal model that has always interested me was the early Christian church, back when its members were being fed to lions and used as human torches. This early church was one of the most successful examples of socialism precisely because all self-interest was subordinated to an overriding common cause (survival of their belief system in the face of overwhelming odds). While the uniting cause was unfortunate (especially in light of the consequences since), a very interesting ideal was created from that situation. Namely strong communal interest devoid of familial obligation and overriding self-interest. I'd be very interested to see a society that could duplicate the same effect with a progressive, secular cause - and without compromising personal liberty. posted by Ryvar at 8:55 PM PST on March 2 [/quote]