Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to Re: Charity and force

The demise of the village
Mary Anne — (archived)

It was easy when everyone in the village knew each other.

Today we have these supertribes, in which it's impossible to know everyone, but the needs remain the same for the needy. Food, clothing, shelter, medicine, training...

And yes, the chief in fact did go around and force the care of the less able on the rest of the villagers, but not with a spear. With social pressure. Withdrawal of support. Shame. Shunning. That's a very serious threat: invisibility.

In the anonymous post-modern world, the only people whose opinions matter are the ones in our personal address books and rolodexes. Chances are, not many of the local lords and ladies know the peddlar, the ragpicker, or the town fool personally anymore. It's easy to ignore the invisible.

The invisible therefore go to the bureaucracy for relief. To the bureaucracy, everyone is a number, so at least they are seen. Some numbers, however, are still shinier than others... but no one is really expecting equity. Only to be seen. To be unseen in a social species is a death sentence.

Regards--
Mary Anne

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