Caricature challenge

[Lynn Fredricks]

> I ask you this Lynn, what is more offennsive, speaking an 
> uncomfortable opinion, or defending politness over and above 
> the right to publically expose one's ideas?  There are by 
> definition lots of polite people in every oppressive 
> culture... (the rest are in prison, dead, marginalized, or 
> admonished into servitude). Be careful which you serve, 
> polite ain't freedom.  Polite ain't grace.  Your story is 
> about control.  Why weren't you offended by the social tyrany 
> of the people "knocking the highest nail down"?  We are 
> getting so used to this we are forgetting the difference that 
> matters.   I for one am very very thankful for those who 
> heeded a higher goal, people like ghandi and martin luther 
> king and lincoln and the guy who stood in front of the tank 
> in china.  These people acted under a larger definition of 
> the word polite.

Randall, I had a fairly viceral reaction at first to situations that
wouldn't sit right in the US - but in time I learned that exposing ones
ideas was possible, it just had to take a different route to be gain
meaningful acceptance in the group. Knowing significantly more about
Japanese culture has made me a lot more critical about specific institutions
as well, and also more knowledgable about getting what I wanted (and no
culture is perfect with that).

What is polite or not is governed by the norms of the venue - written laws
and unwritten and rarely spoken norms of the groupshare. Im not saying that
you wont find polite tyrrants in the world, only that politeness can exist
*without* tyrrany - and it sure helps in getting what you want out of life.

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
President
Paradigma Software
http://www.paradigmasoft.com

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