[lit-ideas] Re: news?
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 17:23:18 +0900
On 2005/05/06, at 13:16, Eric Yost wrote:
> But what about climate change issues? VERY BAD but trivial because =20
> of a
> sense of personal powerlessness over the petroleum economy? VERY =20
> BAD but
> trivial because seemingly distant in time? How does that issue fit?
Moving from the flip to the serious: You might want to have a look at =20=
German sociologist Ulrich Beck's _The Risk Society_. Beck argues that =20=
while classical social theory was mainly concerned with the =20
distribution of visible wealth, we must now try to understand what it =20=
means to live in societies where the critical issues have to do with =20
the distribution of invisible risks, of which climate change, the =20
spread of HIV/AIDs, mercury poisoning in fish, and currency =20
fluctuations are all good examples. The common thread is the utter =20
dependence of laymen on experts for warnings, assessments, solutions, =20=
etc. Given that virtually all of us are laymen when it comes to most =20
issues, we are stuck in the unpleasant position of trying to make =20
judgments when the experts to whom we turn offer conflicting =20
interpretations, based on evidence that we are unable to collect or =20
evaluate for ourselves.
My personal view is that we are slipping back into a world that =20
uncannily resembles the world of traditional Chinese religion. We =20
feel threatened by invisible powers, but when we turn to "experts" we =20=
find them in flagrant disagreement and inclined to bad-mouth each =20
other instead of working to achieve a consensus. We hope against hope =20=
that someone out there really has "IT" the power to discern the truth =20=
and tell us what to do. We cling to the shibboleths of our various =20
faiths because giving them up leaves us feeling utterly helpless. We =20
hear news of climate change in a frame of mind not unlike that in =20
which others hear news of the imminent end of the world or, at least, =20=
this cosmic cycle=81\hoping not yet, not yet....
The rumors and alarms cannot be ignored. But we turn away and carry =20
on with our usual habits, for as long as we're allowed.
John McCreery=
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
