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Thinking about some articles linked by Hestia on a turnaround in corporate
ethics (http://www.livejournal.com/users/hestia/560064.html) and Greylock on the government covering up doubts on Iraqi WMD reports (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1333895.htm , http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1334282.htm) has reminded me of an idea that's been kicking about the back of my skull for a little while.
Basically, i sometimes wonder if the very fact that we expect politicians to be lying bastards, business leaders to be soulless profiteers, news agencies to twist facts to suit an 'angle' etc not only contributes to that being the situation by lowering our expectations of what's acceptable (as has often been suggested) but in fact writes the roles for what it is to be a politican, business leader, newscaster etc that these people are acting out. In accepting and complaining that our politicans, for instance, will be deceitful, self-seeking opportunists who can't be trusted as far as you could spit, are we in fact drafting the position descrition for what sort of people we get running our countries, or even writing the script to tell people how to behave as political leaders?
Needs more thought, but there's a theory in there somewhere, which must tie in with the idea of focussing on what society should be like, rather than what's wrong with it.
ethics (http://www.livejournal.com/users/hestia/560064.html) and Greylock on the government covering up doubts on Iraqi WMD reports (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1333895.htm , http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1334282.htm) has reminded me of an idea that's been kicking about the back of my skull for a little while.
Basically, i sometimes wonder if the very fact that we expect politicians to be lying bastards, business leaders to be soulless profiteers, news agencies to twist facts to suit an 'angle' etc not only contributes to that being the situation by lowering our expectations of what's acceptable (as has often been suggested) but in fact writes the roles for what it is to be a politican, business leader, newscaster etc that these people are acting out. In accepting and complaining that our politicans, for instance, will be deceitful, self-seeking opportunists who can't be trusted as far as you could spit, are we in fact drafting the position descrition for what sort of people we get running our countries, or even writing the script to tell people how to behave as political leaders?
Needs more thought, but there's a theory in there somewhere, which must tie in with the idea of focussing on what society should be like, rather than what's wrong with it.
