I wonder sometimes what the world would look like if we all had the opportunity to experience a small slice of life as others have. i.e.
If a middle class citizen of Israel lived a month in a Palastinian refugee camp.
If a lower middle class American kid spent a month in an upper class private school surrounded by kids pressured into thinking any grade less than an A was a failure.
If a wealthy executive who was the son or daughter of wealthy parents suddenly had all there wealth, power, and connections stripped away, and lived a month in a slum.
If an anti gun advocate had to live in a rural area where attacks on livestock and people by wolves, and other wild creatures was a constant threat.
If an employee had to spend a month in the owners job, dealing with angry clients, unfeeling bankers, shrinking budgets, and longer work hours.
If a business owner had to spend a month working in the lowest paid position in his company, as well as having to live on that pay scale.
Now...this is not going to happen of course, but if it were possible, I'm confident we would be far more tolerant of each other.
🙂🙂
Originally posted by bill718Reminds me of John Rawls' "original position". We'd be more careful with moral and political prescriptions and proscriptions if we didn't know which position we were going to end up occupying.
I wonder sometimes what the world would look like if we all had the opportunity to experience a small slice of life as others have. i.e.
If a middle class citizen of Israel lived a month in a Palastinian refugee camp.
If a lower middle class American kid spent a month in an upper class private school surrounded by kids pressured into thinking any grade ...[text shortened]... t if it were possible, I'm confident we would be far more tolerant of each other.
🙂🙂
Originally posted by bill718First, it would have to go both ways. It would be at least as useful for Palestinians to understand the problems of suicide bombers, for rural people to understand the problems of urban gun violence and for the disadvantaged to understand how those with more often worked hard to achieve it.
I wonder sometimes what the world would look like if we all had the opportunity to experience a small slice of life as others have. i.e.
If a middle class citizen of Israel lived a month in a Palastinian refugee camp.
If a lower middle class American kid spent a month in an upper class private school surrounded by kids pressured into thinking any grade ...[text shortened]... t if it were possible, I'm confident we would be far more tolerant of each other.
🙂🙂
Second, I am not sure it would really resolve the issue. For example, if you are worried about urban gun violence you probably want more restrictions implementend and if you are afraid of wild animals you want increased access.
Originally posted by bill718Well you can at least try. Consider joining SERVAS for example:
Now...this is not going to happen of course, but if it were possible, I'm confident we would be far more tolerant of each other.
http://www.servas.org/
We tend to build up an image of what people from a given country / culture are like and when we actually meet them and get to know them it can be quite an eye opener.