View source for SocialDuty


JFK asked us to ask what we can do for our country.  And though our government should not dictate how we support our comrades, we share a common interest in the success of our civilization and cannot blam anyone for it's failings if we do not do our part to help make it work.

Things we can do:

# join a militia
# join a voluteer fire department or othe voluteer organization
# vote (if we have an opinion)
# don't vote (if we don't)
# jury duty.
# participate in action groups.
# Bocott products to encourage companies to [[DoTheRightThing]].
# offer expert opinion (if you have expertise)
# initiate private initiatives for the public good.
# be self reliant
# assist those in need.
# support charity.
# tip good value and service.
# encourage someone who is troubled
# create value in our vocation
# utilize objective criteria for problem solving
# employ synergetic solutions
# your idea here.....

No one should be compelled to do anything.  There are enough of us who care about doing a quality job.  Our [[SocialContract]] should not enlist the unwilling except in times of emergency.

Doing our duty is fullfulling in itself for most of us.  If we have we don't mind sharing.  And we feel good about ourselves for doing good.

I might think passing out flowers to people on the street is good.  Others may think it wastefull.  I am free to serve as I will, after all I am just a voluteer.
----
"No one should be compelled to do anything."

-Pardon, but isn't that the point of a [[SocialDuty]]? A thing you are obligated to do, but not required? If it is a person's opinion that they do not want to join the army, then they have that choice (The currently do, unless they reinstate the draft). All the [[SocialDuty]] is, is [[GoodInclinations]] combined with [[FreedomOfWill]].  --KenSchry
----
Incorrect. Your [[SocialDuty]] is to be a good little drone (or cog in the [[SocialNetwork]], if you prefer). For example, it is your [[SocialDuty]] to pay your taxes, register your car, and not disrupt your local society (your neighbors and the community you form).

We in the USA (and this is certainly true for other places in the world), feel that we have a certain legal leeway to protest what is going on (ie to legally be disruptive). Some societies do not accept our level of protest, or our way of protesting. But most societies (I believe all healthy ones) do have accepted ways of protesting when an individual feels that their [[SocialDuty]] has become too honerous, or when other individuals are overstepping their place in society.

Remember, your [[SocialDuty]] is to be a good member of your local society. It is the societies themselves that determine what that actual entails.

---StarPilot
----
That's YOUR [[SocialDuty]]. What about mine, what about the guy next-door? It varies with each person. It is not, and cannot be exactly the same for different minds.

And what about your [[SocialDuty]] to religion? Take any random person as an example. Say they are Christian. Wouldn't their duty be, to be a religious people, pray to Jesus, repent for your sins and at the end, you get into Heaven? i'm Jewish, My [[SocialDuty]] is about the same. Worship the one god, respect living beings, and live a rightous life.

"Your [[SocialDuty]] is to be a good little drone", only applies to PART of our duty. --KenSchry
----
No. That's ALL HUMAN BEINGS [[SocialDuty]]. "Be a good little drone." Period. End Of Line.

Seriously. Just look at the requirements.

====Requirements of Social Beings:
====
* Do not be [[AntiSocial]]
* Take less from your Society then you contribute. (Carry your own weight more then other people carry you).

Everything else, is just local flavor.

All societies throughout the Humiverse (Human Universe) punish the [[AntiSocial]], and those who are too big a drag on it. From the beginning of time until now.

So long as you are not [[AntiSocial]] and you carry your own weight more then you need to be carried, you are a good little drone, and Society lets you be (and is willing to help carry you when you stumble). However, be a bad little drone, and Society will not let you be. The more bad little drone you are, the quicker Society gets around to handling you.

It truly is that simple. The only thing that varies is the degree of tolerance/sensitivity a Society has for their bad little drones. One that has a greatness of bounty, that will typically have a largeness in its tolerance of [[AntiSocial]] members and wasteful members. A Society that is just at subsistenous level, will have almost no tolerance. Its simple survival matter for the Society in question. Societies with almost no resources cannot waste what little resources they have. Societies with boundless resources can be very inefficent in how they are used.

Keep in mind, that most industrialized and digitized people generally belong to more then one Society. And that there are smaller subsets of Societies in the larger Societies. Indeed, the largest Society of all is the Sol Society (the Humiverse now extends into Low Orbit, and hence is not properly a World Society any more), the [[WE]]. Inside the [[WE]], though, there are millions of clusters of Society, each living out and interacting with other clusters of Society.

Wherever you have 2 humans, you have a Society. Whether its in LOE (Low Earth Orbit) or a small research outpost in the South Pole. Each society operates on the same principle... To remain a member of that Society, you must "Be a good drone". Break that rule, and the Society will punish you (to make you step back into line) or exclude you. Its either hardwired into us at a very base level, or simply the most basic emergent behavior of Society, because it is common across ALL significant Social beings... examples in the mammal family: human, primate, feline (lions, feral domestic cats in Rome), canine, whale, porpoise, dolphin, horses. Outside the mammalian family, we can also observed it in: komodo dragons, geese, ducks, and sharks (hammerhead, great whites), just to name a few. It's basic behavior whenever a group forms. Be good, or else be punished and/or excluded. Simple trade off... to be a member, you must obey the rules and not make the group worth less by your participation/inclusion. Your [[SocialDuty]] is: Be a good little drone. Because if you are not, Society will eventually exclude you, by whatever means it finds necessary.

It's really simple: If you do NOT perform/conform your [[SocialDuty]], as deemed by Society, Society will exclude you. It's just the price you must pay to play. For example: If you are playing baseball, you are participating in a Society. If you don't conform to the rules (ie you won't leave the batter's box after striking out, cause you think you deserve 6 strikes), the rest of the Society will simply stop allowing you to participate.

Example: The workplace is a Society (many are several). If you don't carry your weight (do your assigned work), but come in and hassle all your co-workers, you will be warned/disciplined, and eventually excluded (fired). If you still try to show up after that, you may find yourself forcifully removed by security or law enforcement officers.

You can pick any Society you are a member of. If you are not a good little drone in that Society (staying within its tolerances for [[AntiSocial]] and Needing help from others and their resources), you will not stay a member of that Society.

"My [[SocialDuty]] is about the same. Worship the one god, respect living beings, and live a rightous life." That's only your [[SocialDuty]] if one of the Societies you are a member of require it, [[KenSchry]]. Which one is that? Your synagog? The truth is, it would only require that, when you are around OTHER MEMBERS of that Society. When you are on your own, or around non-members of that Society, its rules and requirements are meaningless. And personally, I doubt they require you 'Worship the one god, respect living beings, and live a rightous life.' They really require you behave in a certain way, and say certain things. The Society formed by your synagog (for instance) have no way of knowing, and it certainly doesn't care, if you really do 'believe in the one god.'. What it cares about is that you show up (participate), and be a good drone while doing so. Otherwise, you could show up and set fire to the place of gathering, couldn't you? There is nothing that says "Do not burn the meeting place", is there? So it is not a ''stated requirement'' of the Society. But it is an ''implicit requirement'' , in that you are not to be [[AntiSocial]], and burning down the meeting place would be very [[AntiSocial]].

It seems to me you are confusing what you feel with what Society requires, Ken. They are very seperate things. You are your own universe, seperate from all others. Your universe is affected by those other personal universes around you. However, Societies do not exist in the reality of the personal universe (the Human Existance). Societies are logical entities comprised of the many beings that participate. Each being makes up one cell in the Society's makeup; any cell that isn't a worthwhile member will be excluded. Whether the Society is a group of 10 year old humans playing soccer, a pride of lions living in Africa, or the astronauts living on MIR. You have to be a good cog in the machine, or the machine will spit you out and not use you.

Remember, you if you want to participate, you have to play by the actual rules. The actual rules of play is your [[SocialDuty]]. And the first rule of all Societies is: Be a good drone (participate while obeying the rules of the Society).

---StarPilot
----
What your saying is correct, and at the same time Wrong.

I understand better now, and yes you are correct, You have to conform to any society and fit in, regardless (Be a little cog).

But your idea of the [[SocialDuty]] involving the ENTIRE human race is wrong, in my opinion.

(MakeshiftTheory)

In your community, say your duty is to learn the history, and be as an educated man as you can be. But, what if another section of the world believes that it is not they're duty to learn, because they earn their living farming, so all their culture has to do is live off of the land.

[[HumanExistance]], Star, is a complicated and different thing. You cannot say that Everyones [[SocialDuty]] is X, because a community may have Y, and another Z.

If you can fathom what the [[SocialDuty]] of the people around you is star, I congradualte you because I cannot. I am still comprehending MY true [[SocialDuty]], not something assigned to me by another person --KenSchry
----
Everyone's first [[SocialDuty]] is to be a good little drone. That rule never changes.

Where behavioral differences exist, is where there are different sub-Societies.

Take a look at your own life, and those around you.

The [[SocialDuty]] of my work sub-Society is different from that of my home's sub-Society in several details. But both require that I'm a good little drone. I am lucky in that both are very tolerant in what is acceptable, but both will eventually exclude me if I do not conform to the [[SocialDuty]] of the members of those Societies. Compare that to anywhere, and you will find it is the same.

Your [[SocialDuty]] will never be "learn the history, and be as an educated man as you can be". If you do not learn, there is no Academic Society that will exclude you because of that. Not one. Because their required [[SocialDuty]] is not learning, it's how you participate in the Society.

All [[SocialDuty|Social Duties|]] come down to that. Rules on how you must behave and participate. Everything else you are describing, the Societies do not ''''care'''' about. It's not part of the requirements to participate in that Society.

ALL [[SocialDuty]] is about the norms and bounds of how you participate in that particular Society. If you feel you have a duty to become a better person, that is purely a personal matter for yourself. Other members of your Societies will not do so, and will not lose standing or be excluded from the Society because they do not.

To find the requirements of a Society, to determine what the [[SocialDuty]] is of its members, look to what the least people in that Society do, and that is the requirements to participate of that Society (and forms the basis of their [[SocialDuty]]). To deteremine the bounds of behavioral tolerance, look to what people get excluded from that Society for. Add together the minimum participation required, and the list of outlawing (exclusion) behaviors, and you have the [[SocialDuty]] of that Society.

Example of participation requirements: Do you have to give money (tithe) regularly at your Church? Is that a [[SocialDuty]] of the Society formed by the members of the Church? If some members/families do not, then tithing isn't a ''requirement'' , and therefore it is not a [[SocialDuty]].

Remember [[KenSchry]], your duty to the Society (the definition of [[SocialDuty]]) is what it requires of you to continue to stay a member. Anything beyond that is not [[SocialDuty]]. To be a member of the Humiverse (the largest human community we know of), you merely have to participate with other humans/Society that is not completely isolated.

Now, what you feel and reason that all humans should do, is a different matter. What action or behavior should everyone in the Humiverse have to conform to (note that: "Be a good drone") that would improve the Human Experience for all those participating? Well, we have the benefit of all those that came before us on that matter... and it can be summed up in one statement: "Treat others as you desire to be treated" (the [[GoldenRule]] of polite behavior).

As for me, if I do not try to better myself, to learn new things, to improve myself by learning from my mistakes (especially when it's interacting with other people), I feel that I have broken a contract with myself... that I've broken my Personal Ethics Code. Many people would consider that their Personal Ethics Code is their [[SocialDuty]], but it is not. I suspect that this is where you are having trouble, distinguishing between what you feel is required by yourself so that you will feel like a person in good standing with the Humiverse, and what is required to merely be allowed to participate in the Humiverse (or a subset thereof).

---StarPilot
----
I cannot decide whether the list here belongs in [[WhatWeCanDo]] or here.

In a government, of the people, by the people, and for the people, a diversity of participation is needed for a healthy society to emerge.  The framers of the American Constitution saw the need for an educated population as essential to a successful democracy.

There is much more we can do to create a society which supports freedom and sustainable growth.  If it is not our duty then who's duty is it?  If we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem.  Every citizen in responsible in a government of the people.  The people always have the power if they have the will to weild it.

While fitting in, is the social thing to do, the American way is to fight for our freedoms and keep government from controlling our lives.  Sometimes our social duty is to protest.  Sometimes it is to not cooperate.  Sometime it is to not pay taxes.  sometimes it is to bear arms against injustice in our government.  Viva la revolution====
====

-- [[JimScarver]]
----
It is always a citizen's duty to be a good little drone. Even in the American system. Always has been, always will. Whistle blowers, for instance, are always punished for being [[AntiSocial]]. The FBI has performed studies on what happens to whistle blowers in all branches of the government (excluding itself), as well as for all major US contractors (US corporations). They have always been punished for protesting, from the very start of the country, and they still are, despite federal protection for federal whistle blowers (the protections are NEVER followed). What's that say? We include conformity as a requirement to participate, and if you don't conform, you are punished, legally and socially. (In the interest of what about the FBI... [[DoJ]] investigations into FBI whistleblowers find they are the worst at persecuting whistle blowers... 50% of all FBI whistleblowers have ended up killed by painful means as well as publically discredited and socially ruined before their torture death.)

It's a dark, black world out there. Standing out means getting hammered, even in American society.

America was not founded on freedom and liberty for all. Merely freedom and liberty for the top 1%, rich people (Outside of Thomas Jefferson, the founding fathers did not believe the average person was intelligent enough to be able to decide what is best for them. That's why we have electorial colleges, for instance). The fact that we have stretched freedom and liberty for all to include much more is purely due to people empowering themselves and making themselves included, via combinations of education (changing what people believe "ShouldBe" and "AsTheWorldIs") and [[AntiSocial]] behavior. Note: This is typically called [[CarrotAndStick]] methodology... rewarding what is good, and punishing what is bad.

Why do I mention this? What seems to be an entwined issue in the discussions here is what people feel is their [[PersonalDutyToSelf]], or more simply, their [[PersonalDuty]] and how to make more people in the world have a similar sense of [[PersonalDuty]]. The answer is simple... controlled education, both formal (schooling) and informal (media). Constantly teach and reinforce what is taught so that people absord into their [[PersonalDuty]] how you want them to feel they should act and care about. It's simple... control the information that goes into them as much as possible, and you gain some measure of control over what they think and feel. This is not a new concept. It's been practiced for as long as one Society has wanted dominance over other Societies, and that predates Humanity itself.

Remember... when you wonder how to make people behave more in a manner of your preferences, you need to figure out how to educate them so that they will absord such teachings into their [[PersonalDuty]]. Example: Spiritual teachings is one of the most ancient practiced means of controlling what is taught to people as is their [[PersonalDuty]].

So... to sum up our concepts:
*SocialDuty - behavior required by Society to participate in that Society.
*PersonalDuty - behavior required (or suggested) by the self.

Remember, Social Engineers: the key is changing people's [[PersonalDuty]]. If enough people's [[PersonalDuty]] change in a Society, they will then change that Society's [[SocialDuty]], and its taught [[PersonalDuty]].

---StarPilot