Honor - A New Meme

[ravan]

I want to (re)introduce a (new) meme to our society: honor.

The dictionary gives a lot of definitions for honor, some refering to different things for different genders. They fall short of what we need. So what do we need to become?

Honorable. In word and deed.

We need to have these concepts present in our daily dialog of culture and business:
integrity (personal and financial),
ethics,
trustworthy,
courage,
honesty,
independance,
responsibility,
truthfulness,
fairness,
justice,
fidelity,
balance,
impartial,
(self) discipline,
respect,
thrift,
perseverance,
courtesy,
charity,
and other similar personal virtues. Look them up, use them, become them, and pass the idea around.

We need to set aside the "what's in it for me" thing, and start asking "Is it right for everyone involved". We have to start thinking of the needs and rights of others, as well as our own. We need to start caring for others, as if they were our own friends or family.

Honor is colorblind, genderblind, and doesn't discriminate on the basis of any other arbitrary characteristic. Old white men can be as honorable as young black girls (although the old white guys might have more to unlearn). Honor is not tied to any one political viewpoint, although the Radical Religious Rightwing Republicans are pretty much clueless and hosed when it comes to applying the principles.

We need to toss gods, prophets and saviours out of the social equation, because they are personal, not for whole societies. Yes, we should throw God out of the public debate, back to his house of worship - his flock is losing its moral core while they are trying to impose his laws on everyone else! We need to change the US national motto from "In God We Trust" to "In Honor, United".

We should let religions inspire us to honor our fellow humans. We must not beat people over the head (literally or figuratively) to follow our religion with laws and monuments in the public square. Instead, we must bring back in the virtues that are often inspired by true, deep faith and a personal connection with our deities or other concepts of inspiration and/or veneration. We have to walk the walk, within and without.

We need to challenge the venal, nasty, and greedy rot that has become our society, and change it, one conversation at a time, to something we can be proud of. We need to leave the "me" generation wallowing in the destruction that it deserves. We need to change the "I want mine, now, and I want it all" meme to "I will take care of my own needs as best I can, and then be able and willing to help others". "Me first (to hell with everyone else)" transforms to "I meet my needs while helping others meet theirs"

We need to start taking the long view, in everything. We must abandon the "instant gratification" meme. It's a drain on our society and our souls. Businesses should not dance to the quaterly report tune. We should guage resources and needs based on generations, not a decade or less. We should start making 5, 10, and 20 years plans to get out of debt, build alliances, and fund our dreams. We should do our shopping for the month and year, not for the day and week.

There's so much more. I'm sure you can think of permutations and ramifications. But first, take these ideas and virtues, and applythem to your own life, and use them in your own conversations. Spread the meme, infect our society with true honor. Bring back integrity from the graveyard of thought, into a living social force.

Addendum:
Permission to reprint/repost this article in its entirety is granted, as long as source is acknowledged. Ravan Asteris, October 30, 2002.

Comments

[dreamingcrow.livejournal.com]

Hope you don't mind, I linked to this from my journal. Have you considered posting it to sos_usa?

[dreamingcrow.livejournal.com]

Never mind, you just did. :)

[cerberus.livejournal.com]

One of my pet peeves is actually people who say "chivalry is dead", because as far as I'm concerned, you can't kill an ideal, it can't die, and the only reason someone would say something like that would be because it's a lot easier than saying "I'm rude, deal with it." It's just a reason people make up to try and get away with a lack of manners.

[alysbowie.livejournal.com]

Thank you for such a thought-provoking post. If you don't mind, I wish to post this to a couple of e-groups I belong to (with proper credit and links, of course)

[ravan.livejournal.com]

Go ahead, please, spead the "meme". In fact, I added an explicit repost permission to the essay.

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

I posted this (including the addendum) to the listserv of my Unitarian Universalist (http://www.uua.org/aboutuu/) church. I'm hopeful it will start a good discussion.

[gothic-oreo.livejournal.com]

Ah, but honor in the hands of Conservatives gives you Feudal Japan.

But hey, at least when they get caught being corrupt they are expected to commit suicide.

[ravan.livejournal.com]

Ah, but honor in the hands of Conservatives gives you Feudal Japan.

Ummm, only in the older sense of honor - bushido, et all. That form had a pecking order to it, which is not what I am advocating. If people take honor as *personal* virtue, then the social impacts of fairness, respect, and mutual aid are a consequence, not the goal. To change our society, we must change ourselves. Other people learn from us by example, not by decree.

But hey, at least when they get caught being corrupt they are expected to commit suicide.

There is something to be said for direct, personal acountability... ;-)

But corruption is not an honorable attribute - sorry George, Dick, John, and Ari.

[yay4pikas.livejournal.com]

And, for that matter, it's poor history to compare feudal Japan to modern Western society - and the standard of living in feudal Japan was significantly higher for the peasantry than in Europe at that time - more food, more interesting lives, more recreation. Not to mention that the literacy rate was higher than in Europe, and equivalent to the literacy rate in Europe mid-19th century.

Which is not to say that they were by any means perfect, but it wasn't an abysmal society.

(Great article, which I have duly linked.)

small nitpick

[hephaestos.livejournal.com]

Instead of "In God We Trust," I think a more fitting national motto would be "E Pluribus Unum," which is what it was before the McCarthyites got their hands on it.

Re: small nitpick

[ravan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, most people these days don't understand the Latin.

[bellacrow.livejournal.com]

posted in mine

A Point Well Taken

[bishop-henley.livejournal.com]

I fear we need more, too. I believe that our current form of democracy is stretching the limits of justice. I would really like to see some alternative or possible modification that can swing it into line. This country needs a serious house cleaning, but with certain questions lingering, I don't believe we can accomplish much.

1) Where are we trying to go?
2) Considering what appears to be human nature, how do we get there?

I am currently contemplating whether I believe some variant of Open Source technology can be used to help implement government.