Civility is a secondary value for a social group when a social contract of common principle is in effect.
I can't argue with that.
What we have now, in our society, is both declining common principle and declining civility. If we could wave a magic wand and acquire common principle, there would be less need for civility, as you say. Unless you're advocating a coup like in Afghanistan, though, we're not likely to achieve common principle any time soon. So why not reduce the wear and tear on each other and improve our prospects for finding common principle via civility.
I'm not pushing for civility, BTW, as one of the key values to advocate. I only mentioned it in response to your challenge to come up with some values to advocate to the thread. My point was that I have little influence with the thread, as demonstrated by my lack of success with civility, so there's no point in my advocating anything else.
Courteous behavior and politeness can be and often is a mask for manipulative cruelty, deceit, and overbearing oppression.
Disreputable people have lots of tools that they can use. Civility certainly is one of them. I don't think you can blame the tool. That's like saying that a knife is not worthwhile because some will use it to do harm.
Karen |
