HeroesAndVillains

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Western children stories focus on TheIndividual heroes overcoming TheIndividual villains. This is good vs. evil, ViceAndVirtue. Stories that are endemically, intrinsically, en majeur a SeparationOfPositions?. This is not the case in every cuture. Eastern children stories rather focus on a group solving a problem together. Quite often storyline involves one member of the group leaving due to difficulty, and the rest of the story is the group trying to reintegrate their lost member.

There are no heroes and no villains, or at least no superheroes and supervillains (cf. ViceAndVirtue). More realistically, most often there is society (TheCollective) where AnIndividual or a small minority get into trouble. As a collective, coherent whole, the society must BuildInTolerance towards TheIndividuals' curiosity and precociousness. They may get into trouble, but this curiosity and precociousness is the internal pressure in society pushing outwards on the rubber skein of the balloon. If we can discourage negative behaviour, and at least get out of the way if not encourage positive behaviour, this pressure is what moves society forward. Thus, society has a responsibility to RadicalInclusiveness in some way--it must accommodate the bad.

One can punish the individuals in an attempt to stamp out the root of all evil (PunishReputation), but that isn't effective since it exacerbates the ConflictCycle. Don't ExpandScope, after all. The NonViolent answer requires taking a step back and thinking about what is real. A mistake made today does not imply repeating that mistake tomorrow. We are all klutszes at one point or another. While behaviour today does statistically improve the chances of similar behaviour in the future (of course!), we also ForgiveAndForget the past when TheIndividual demonstrates a change in his or her behaviour.

Society has an obligation to get its members back on track, integrated back into TheCollective whole. You can CommunityExile them, and they can exercise their RightToLeave, but a strong society can withstand increasing amounts of internal pressure. And the more internal pressure it can withstand, the stronger it might become yet.

When you encounter a person who is doing you ill, don't project words like villain, evil, traitor, or other extreme words. DampenEmotions, rather, and AssumeGoodFaith. They may be doing something wrong or inappropriate, but remember from their mind they are acting in GoodFaith in at least some frame of thought. Find a SuperordinateGoal so that all will share the same frame of thought. Then everyone will agree what is good faith and what is bad faith.

See AssumeGoodFaith.

HeroesAndVillains

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