Intellectual Thought

One may wonder why I don't post more about the exciting happenings with in our family. And I am here to tell you that my intellectual thought is needed else where; whether it's taking care of the kids, making home more homey, participating in church activities, being apart of the PTA, being Chair Person of the Policy Council, tending to bills, conversing with my hubby across the country, doing homework, or simply catching up on personal emails. LOL, Now that I look at it, I can't believe I do all that: I should be getting paid! SHOW ME THE MONEY!

But here is something that might interest some of my readers, I had to answer a discussion question for school; which took A LOT of intellecutal thought. Once you've finished reading it, if you're a blogger, give me your opinion:

Discussion Question One; Week Two

Could there ever be one version of right and wrong across all societies? Why or why not?

I do not believe that there ever will be one version of right and wrong across all societies. Dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks, society has been trying to determine the rights and wrongs of social order; interpretations can be found in Aristotle’s Politics and Plato’s Republic. From here, I believe this relates back to the Theory of Conflict. When asking someone a question: What is human nature? What causes social inequality? What is considered to be a “good” or “just” society? There will be diverse answers throughout. Since society is composed of many competing groups, different interests will always be represented.

Conflict, rather than stability, is the inconsistent element of social order, and I believe social change only occurs in disorderly, revolutionary ways. When there is a general consensus among society about honor, virtue, right and wrong, the consensus would be held together by an elite person’s acceptance of these basic values. This is where we invest our acceptance of following the person with power and authority; hoping they will have intellectual or moral capabilities to represent our ethical beliefs as a society. If there is a common agreement concerning important values, social order can go forth in harmony providing a predictable fashion of the future. Meaning that if a social change were to occur, for better or worse, this change could only happen very slowly, in a non-disruptive, evolutionary fashion.

I believe power and authority tend to be a continuation of inherited patterns of political, economic, and social inequality. Law, in the conflict scenario, is just a weapon for the elite person to use to enforce their private interests, sometimes even at the expense of the public’s interest. Take the USA PATRIOT Act for example. Was restricting US citizens’ freedoms really necessary in order to protect America from potential acts of terrorism? Even just within America, since we are filled with diverse groups and ideas I do not believe a common consensus across all societies will ever be reached.