This is interesting! People (at least those who are not wounded enough by life to develop a malicious streak) seem naturally willing to nurture and help others when there is no perceived threat - especially if the help-ee seems small and weak. (Maybe this same impulse motivates the anti-abortionists.) What is it that thwarts this impulse with others in general? I suspect it has much to do with our socioeconomic structure - a model based on scarcity and competition. A gift economy would go a long way toward redressing this.
On May 15, 2009 Bill Miller wrote:
This is interesting! People (at least those who are not wounded enough by life to develop a malicious streak) seem naturally willing to nurture and help others when there is no perceived threat - especially if the help-ee seems small and weak. (Maybe this same impulse motivates the anti-abortionists.) What is it that thwarts this impulse with others in general? I suspect it has much to do with our socioeconomic structure - a model based on scarcity and competition. A gift economy would go a long way toward redressing this.