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wingedbeastThis one goes to the root of a number of previous tips to this series. How does your new society handle societal shame?
Writing this in 2017 America, the answer is that this is actually the source of a set of grave internal conflicts. One side will want to examine our history in order to better understand both the wrongdoings of the past and the consequences thereof. The other side will be a mixture of those who want to view America's past as one of ideals and/or treat any wrongs done as completely issolated within the past.
The latter side is always tempting. And, there are any number of justifications that one can put to use in defending the impulse. Claims to owning patriotism and impuning the patriotism of ideological opposition is always popular. So is the claim that those bringing up the wrongs of the past just want to make you feel guilty for being a member of your demographic.
The fact of the matter is that acknowledging and feeling societal shame serves a purpose. If you do feel guilt, it is important for that to be simply a means toward an end.
Rejecting the acknowledgment of societal shame is how negative pride becomes entrenched, because people who are protected from feeling the shame of it never have to give it up. Rejecting the acknowledgment of societal shame is how the societal conversation stalls, because the very effort means rejecting new information and returning to that which has been debunked time and again. Rejecting the acknowledgment of societal shame means rejecting the acknowledgment of injuries done, by your society, to itself and blocking others from addressing the consequences thereof.
This is not a denial of the importance of pride, specifically positive pride, in your society. Shame and pride are essential components of an honest self-assessment, either on the societal level or the individual level. The two are not mutually exclusive. The key words to keep in mind are balance and moderation.
In excess, either or both can be self-indulgent to the point of self-destruction. And, an excess of one does not cure an excess of the other. But, between the two, pride will be the easier for you to foster and the easier for you to foster in excess. Shame will need to be an effort.
As well, it must be the right kind of shame. Admitting and feeling shame, properly, must not result in a sense of worthlessness. Proper shame does not say "I am worthless" but is put in context balancing proper pride by saying "I am as flawed as everybody else" and being able to acknowledge specific flaws.
I would advise against having holidays or yearly remembrances devoted to shame as a general concept. In the event of great wrongs, specific remembrances are good. But, general shame should be shared with general pride.
Likely, there will come a point where your new society starts to have a founding-day celebration or some similar celebration of civic spirit. Such a yearly event should be devoted to both pride and shame, balancing each other. The pride should look back to say what we've accomplished and what we can accomplish again. Shame should look back and say what we've done and should not do again. Even in that, the pride should remind us that we can go into the future without necessarily repeating the mistakes of the past. Of course, the shame should remind us that we will find more flaws in the future.
Life, for the individual and the society, is an ongoing project, never complete. Shame is an essential tool for self-improvement on either level.
Writing this in 2017 America, the answer is that this is actually the source of a set of grave internal conflicts. One side will want to examine our history in order to better understand both the wrongdoings of the past and the consequences thereof. The other side will be a mixture of those who want to view America's past as one of ideals and/or treat any wrongs done as completely issolated within the past.
The latter side is always tempting. And, there are any number of justifications that one can put to use in defending the impulse. Claims to owning patriotism and impuning the patriotism of ideological opposition is always popular. So is the claim that those bringing up the wrongs of the past just want to make you feel guilty for being a member of your demographic.
The fact of the matter is that acknowledging and feeling societal shame serves a purpose. If you do feel guilt, it is important for that to be simply a means toward an end.
Rejecting the acknowledgment of societal shame is how negative pride becomes entrenched, because people who are protected from feeling the shame of it never have to give it up. Rejecting the acknowledgment of societal shame is how the societal conversation stalls, because the very effort means rejecting new information and returning to that which has been debunked time and again. Rejecting the acknowledgment of societal shame means rejecting the acknowledgment of injuries done, by your society, to itself and blocking others from addressing the consequences thereof.
This is not a denial of the importance of pride, specifically positive pride, in your society. Shame and pride are essential components of an honest self-assessment, either on the societal level or the individual level. The two are not mutually exclusive. The key words to keep in mind are balance and moderation.
In excess, either or both can be self-indulgent to the point of self-destruction. And, an excess of one does not cure an excess of the other. But, between the two, pride will be the easier for you to foster and the easier for you to foster in excess. Shame will need to be an effort.
As well, it must be the right kind of shame. Admitting and feeling shame, properly, must not result in a sense of worthlessness. Proper shame does not say "I am worthless" but is put in context balancing proper pride by saying "I am as flawed as everybody else" and being able to acknowledge specific flaws.
I would advise against having holidays or yearly remembrances devoted to shame as a general concept. In the event of great wrongs, specific remembrances are good. But, general shame should be shared with general pride.
Likely, there will come a point where your new society starts to have a founding-day celebration or some similar celebration of civic spirit. Such a yearly event should be devoted to both pride and shame, balancing each other. The pride should look back to say what we've accomplished and what we can accomplish again. Shame should look back and say what we've done and should not do again. Even in that, the pride should remind us that we can go into the future without necessarily repeating the mistakes of the past. Of course, the shame should remind us that we will find more flaws in the future.
Life, for the individual and the society, is an ongoing project, never complete. Shame is an essential tool for self-improvement on either level.
