[MD] The relativity of the MoQ

[Andre Broersen]

[Platt]
Sounds like a pipe dream to me and to Pirsig: "The ideal of a
harmonious society in which everyone without coercion cooperates
happily with everyone else for the mutual good of all is a devastating
fiction." (Lila, 24)

John:
Well if not Buddhist monks, maybe Dharma Bums.   But you raise good
questions.  How does one go about crafting a proper society when the one
you're in is failing?  Usually when the ship sinks, you head for the life
boats, not the drawing board.  But purely as an intellectual exercise, it's
a fair question.

Hi Platt and John,
I am not pretending to know the panacea to society's ills other than
following Pirsig's suggestion of the head, heart and hands stuff.
The notion that: "The ideal of a harmonious society in which everyone
without coercion cooperates happily with everyone else for the mutual good
of all is a devastating fiction." (Lila, 24) points me to some sort of
intellectual/visionary level, commonly called government, as a highly
necessary one.

You have elected a person with a vision who is asked to operate under very
difficult circumstances, having been handed a Bush legacy of the worst, rock
bottom quality imaginable.

But Platt doesn't even want to give it a chance. Everything is condemned
even before Obama says anything...reducing any activity aimed at social
improvement as socialist...and therefore to be condemmed,regardless of its
quality. The 'drawingboard' you write about John is something Platt rejects
out of hand (everything is honkydory and wonderful in the US of A under the
Republicans and through the Republicans and with the Republicans).

As Pirsig suggests in Lila somewhere (that) the strength of the American
Government is that if its policies are seen to not to work that these
can/should and will be changed..try something else(.under the Democrats I
think). The Republicans put their blinkers on and push the continuation of
static patterns (as they relate to individuals) regardless of the
social consequences.
I know I am cutting many corners here but the Pirsig quote used seems to me
to be pointing to the need for a solid form of government leadership with
VISION...something that has been lacking overhere (Europe) as well for many
decades.

This may be a nice start and then you can begin by changing the education
system.

Andre