Cohousing-L Mailing List: Cooperative Idealogy

[don i arkin (shardon5]

Sharon Villines states:
       " And while we are at it, we need to retire the false dichotomy of

individual-group. "For the good of the group not the individual" is 
ultimately a meaningless distinction. The group only exists because of 
individuals. Only individuals can act. Once you decide that a group is 
something different than the individuals in it, you are on very thin 
ice."
        I imagine you will get a lot of reaction to the above statement. 
With all due respect, I think your conclusion is wrong.  Of course,
individuals are the active agents in any group, but it seems highly
relevant to me to continue to recognize that a focus on the welfare of
the group is conceptually different from a focus on the welfare of
individuals.  Sort of like the political dispute between those
conservatives who continually scream about individual property rights and
those liberals who champion the rights and interest of the public as a
whole.          
        Sharon Emley  
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