Wandering Thoughts - I - The ‘”Avengers”.

“"Whoever opens the door of his house also lets flies and mosquitoes get inside.” "Deng Xiaoping
Translated by @cathou009, my daughter.

The French Revolution

As "a grandfather", as I mentioned in my introduction @grandpere, I have known several generations of thoughts and attitudes. Today, I see on Steemit, a major debate about integrity, honesty and frankness in the face of people who use plagiarisms and false identities. I can only applaud this approach and I find this a very noble ideal. Yet, we forget that these behaviors are part of human nature. They have always existed. They just take different colors according to the times.

“The family - the village - a bit of social history ...”

I am part of that generation who left the country to live in the "big city". In a small town, everyone knows almost anyone. This man lives at this address, he is the son of ... If he lies, everyone knows and he is exposed. He might be rejected, marginalized unless makes amend. Our education was oriented on honesty and reputation values supported by both social and religious pressure. In the Judeo-Christian religion, to lie and cheat " is not good." Even if the neighbours did not know, there was always someone who knew it : a God. So, there was a form of censorship, a code of behavior imposed by the community.

Boucar Diouf, a Quebec humorist often takes a Senegalese proverb: "It takes a village to raise a child".

If an individual is not comfortable in his community, he will move to another where he will not be known or identified as such. He can then start over or continue to be who he is.

A beautiful lie that comes from afar

Migration has always existed: whether wars, trips - even fishing trips where the fish are always larger - a search for a new work or life. Industrialization and access to higher education have accelerated these population movements. In mid-twentieth century, communities are fragmented. The village did not have enough space or economic activities to sustain its population.

The global village - the media has set new standards

In this exodus to the big cities and the global village, social and religious cohesion declined, continuous information through television and the internet have changed the world. The individual is becoming anonymous with new tags not yet established, each tempting to make his way. The reference is no longer the family or the village. But the media.

One day, one of our well-known politician in Quebec said, naively, as interviewed on tv:

“"If I lied or cheated, prove it! "’.

Although in our judicial system the burden of proof shifts to the victims, it has sown a doubt about a potential fraud. Unknowingly, this politician, moreover a Prime Minister, had changed the paradigm of the honest and upright man. And as a teacher, a student I had caught with plagiarism offense replied: “"Prove it sir! “".

In the same way, a radio station that sought an audience launched the slogan:

"Everybody does it, so do it! ".

This kind of slogan has spread like wildfire in student populations. To justify any behavior, the supreme argument was "everybody does it ! ". Then, how to punish an individual if everybody does it?

And in politics, it is deeply spread.

"The ruling party is corrupt and all others are the same. I would do the same. "

In short, lying, cheating, fraud became normal and accepted behaviors. The example comes from above and often associated with power. Nobody dared to denounce, for fear of losing job or that nobody wants to believe. But beware everyone in power do not necessarily have cheated or frauded.

In 1976, Deng Xiaoping said "Whether a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice."
He borrowed this sentence from Marshal Liu Bocheng. It was used years earlier during a discussion on tactics that the People's Army should follow to fight the Japanese invaders. Liu heard by then that the goal was to win the war and that the tactic was not important. http://www.comite-valmy.org/spip.php?article3456

Among the population, the term has often been translated as follows:

"All means are good to reach our goals."

Unknowingly, the present generation has inherited this culture of tolerance where anything goes, where there is no right or wrong, just shades of acceptability. I could go on developing several points that shaped the collective subconscious as well.

The Internet ... and freedom of expression or free speech!

The village has become more global with the Internet. Everyone is connected, some way or another, to the planet, receive real-time information, communicate with people without having to identify or reveal his true identity, even, have multiple identities which covers the anonymity. We teach our children and even adults to never deliver personal information. This Directive is reinforced by laws protecting the privacy https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vie_priv%C3%A9e even up to the right to be forgotten https://fr.wikipedia.org / wiki /% C3% Droit_ A0_l% 27oubli /

In parallel, one sees on Steemit and other platforms, the opposite discourse where some require proof of identity, a "introduceyourself" to display "reputation" that failing to do risk losing all credibility. Here, on Steemit , we can see display, transparently, all actions: blogs, post replies and all financial transactions with the risk that this information may be prejudiced. In theory, the two orientations are defensible and in both cases, each side will have to put in place rules to defend its position. He who does not identify with photo and date will he perceived as the village liar? Certainly, a person who has plagiarized, cheated, provided a false identity does not deserve a reward.

Another often repeated by Deng sentence is this: "China must open its doors to the West, but we have to realize that the one who opens the door of his house also lets flies and mosquitoes get in”. "http://www.comite-valmy.org/spip.php?article3456

Thus, if there is no control at the front door, it will use means to get rid of flies and mosquitoes, or simply tolerate! Already, there is a valid censorship that discourage "fraudsters", unmask their plagiarisms and give them a negative vote.

The Avengers.

In recent years, a new generation is born. The thirst for truth, transparency, justice, honesty, social and economic reforms. This new generation has given rise to movements like "The indignant, Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring and spring maple (in Quebec) but also in denouncing the behavior of states with WikiLeaks and denunciation of tax heavens. The widespread denouncement also produces affecting the privacy and security of people.

Regardless, it will be said, is for the common good, we cannot make scrambled eggs without breaking eggs. There will always be collateral damages!

This new generation wants to redefine society: governance with direct democracy, economy with crypto-currency . We want to change the world, we want to create a new social order, a new economy. The project is noble-minded and hold great promises as were all previous projects: the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution in Russia, China, the revolution in Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, the establishment of the EU, etc.

But in each case, we replaced an "establishment" by another, often violently and sometimes giving even worse results. In each case, a minority of people claim to represent the majority for the common good. It is in the nature of things that a minority of people acquiring "some power" establish rules for maintaining power. On the other hand, few companies have managed to adapt to new conditions maintaining continuity without going through electroshock.

Quote of the cat means: If a given method does not help to solve the problem, you need to develop another one, even though it may go against what you consider ideal.
http://www.comite-valmy.org/spip.php?article3456

In Quebec, we saw student movements demanding high and strong a new social order and claimed popular support. Downtown city was mobilized and vandalized for months in the name of freedom of expression and the right to strike in an organized disorder. Yet these same organizations hold meetings with the door closed, hands lifted after exhaustion of the participants under the watchful eye of highly committed activists, and the express order to not talk about the content of the meeting to the media. Some leaders have even achieved thus "jobs" and notoriety, but the mass of supporters awoke with a broken dream. And wham! Is this the dictatorship of the avengers?

Between ideal and reality!

Are we ready to change everything for a new society still unknown but projected as the solution to all that we denounce? We forget that the reality and the ideal range between black and white through shades of gray. Society spends almost as much energy and resources to be protected from abuse rather than ensuring a sustainable and prosperous development for the community: laws, security measures, preventive measures of any kind. We create laws that affect millions of people to protect themselves from some individuals. Is it normal to see an increase arms sales when there are actually few hunters and that the figures are declining? Is the offensive or defensive weapons a hobby?

In 1991, less than 16 percent. of the Canadians surveyed hunt and the number is steadily declining. http://www.encyclopediecanadienne.ca/fr/article/chasse-1/

In ecology there is to be preventive and safety measures "tolerant 0". Could we aim at a consensus with a high level of security without compromising any development? Since when can man create something ? The precautionary principle at all costs he must cancel any innovation?

Whatever opinion you have, there will always be someone to think otherwise. Whatever the rule or law voted, there will always be someone who will try to get around it. Can we claim unanimously when the vocabulary always contain -Yes and No with its nuances of neither yes nor no, being or nothingness, be or not to be!-

But how pretentious! Wanting to create the perfect in an imperfect world?

Do man have become a God?

Let’s think about it.