Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Moral Diversity [was Did your community celebrate last night?]

[Matthew Whiting (mewhiting]

Thank you Sharon!

A desire to understand each other is the beginning of trust and building
cohousing takes a great deal of trust.  I consider myself very conservative
in the normal sense of the word from a moral and financial standpoint but
much more liberal in terms of social policy.  I tend to think of the co- in
cohousing standing for cooperation and community, neither of which I see as
antithetical to a "conservative philosophy" but I never liked labels that
much anyway.

-Matt Whiting
Provo UT
On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 11:37 AM, Sharon Villines
<sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>wrote:

>
>
> On Nov 6, 2008, at 9:59 AM, Carol Agate wrote:
>
> > As long as the Republican party espouses values so completely
> > antithetical to mine, I  am not looking for political diversity.
>
> The website that was posted yesterday, "Ted, Ideas Worth Spreading,"
> gives some dimensions that could be helpful to at least understanding
> the differences that lead to acceptance or rejection of ideas.
>
> We are born with a moral sense. Experience only modifies this basic
> structure. Our moral sense is malleable but arrives with a determined
> structure. We see this in children. They arrive as individuals.
>
> This makes sense when you think about the distribution of liberal and
> conservative thought in America and between cultures. It's genetically
> based so is inherited, not wholly taught. (I can tell you I have a bi-
> racial adopted son who in all likelihood voted for John McCain. I'm
> afraid to ask.)
>
> There are 5 foundations for moral decisions:
>
> 1. Harm/Care and 2. Fairness/reciprocity -- the Golden Rule
>
> For most cultures and political persuasions, these two values are
> fairly balanced -- of equal importance in the 23, I think, cultures
> measured, and to liberals and conservatives.
>
> The following three vary much more widely between liberals and
> conservatives and to a lesser degree between cultures.
>
> Liberals value the following three dimensions much less than
> conservatives.
>
> 3. Ingroup/loyalty
>
> To align one's self with a defined group, as distinct from other
> groups, is a conservative trait. Conservatives create tribes if they
> don't have them and "war" is understandable as a conflict between
> groups, even a necessary evil.
>
> Liberals tend not to create or align with groups. The Democrats are
> all over the place and very hard to keep on message -- they don't even
> have an agreed upon message!
>
> They value remaining free to make individual decisions. War is less
> comprehensible, not just because of violence (as measured in 1 & 2)
> but because there is no "we them."
>
> In cohousing the displays of this might be the need to identify
> cohousing as a distinct movement or residential form that is unique
> and important. Not just because it is good, but because it creates an
> ingroup, a tribe, with which one can identify and know who is us and
> who is them. Others can be invited in, but there is a distinct "in"
> that also defines a "not in."
>
> 4. Authority/respect
>
> Do we listen to authority or do we determine whether to listen,
> perhaps obey, or not? Do we make our own decisions or follow the
> dictates of a tradition.
>
> Liberals tend to determine what they believe; conservatives, to adhere
> to a tradition, most often a religion since those are our most deeply
> developed traditions.
>
> In cohousing, do we accept any authority or do we want all decisions
> to be 'full group' decisions. Is everything up for grabs all the time,
> by each individual, or do we have a way things are done? Do we demand
> full group consensus on all decisions? Or do we allow a  president or
> a board to determine community direction in the absence of a full
> group decision?
>
> 5. Purity/Sanctity
>
> Do we concern ourselves with purity of self in mind and spirit, with
> sanctity, a reverence for traditions, or do we question or reject the
> reserving of spaces for "holy" behavior or feelings. Obviously,
> liberals tend to believe less in holy and more in pragmatic. One "just
> sits," not worships. One follows values but not rituals.
>
> In cohousing is celebration of the founding day a time for ritual
> rejoicing and almost confessional "appreciations"? Or is it a time it
> share individual memories and reflect on new insights? To look at how
> have we changed or to go back and reinforce our original purpose for
> being?
>
> ===
>
> Then all of these combine and overlap to produce what we believe
> should be done in our lives. And they can all be twisted in funny
> ways. The concern for pure food can become conservative when it used
> to create an in-group or is coupled with a reverent attitude. The food
> must be pure enough to be prayed over.
>
> I can see now why sociocracy works so well as a governance and
> organizational method. They use of consensus is liberal and the
> hierarchy of decision-making is conservative.
>
> The rejection of stem-cell research, abortion by choice, lesbian/gay
> marriage can be evidence of a need and respect for tradition, the
> known and the familiar. For the religious teachings that go back
> thousands of years. Why question the word of God?
>
> But by understanding the moral dimension that each of these decisions
> brings out, perhaps they can be framed differently so more people can
> be comfortable with them.
>
> In my opinion, that is what Barack Obama has done. In addition to his
> ability to frame issues so they are emotionally persuasive  in terms
> of #1 and #2, the Golden Rule.
>
> The website is below. There is incredible stuff at this site. All
> about 18  minute talks by experts in a field -- on ALL topics from
> perfume to medicine to politics to emotional stability. Amazing site:
>
> http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Sociocracy, a Deeper Democracy
> http://www.sociocracy.info
>
>
>
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