so let us attempt to problem solve with values, be it
mono or pluralistic values…….
let us take this mono idea that god is everything…
every path runs through god and all we have to to do is
to trust god…so in regards to a problem like say,
global warming… the answer for a mono thinker is to
trust god… for with mono thinkers, there is but one
path, one vision, one solution…now this is true of any
mono thinkers be it communist or be it a born again Christian…
now for a pluralistic thinker, there is more then one path,
more then one vision, multiple solutions, multiple possibilities…
so let us try the problem of global warming with someone
who is a pluralistic thinker…you try to depend upon god,
but it seems to a pluralistic thinker that the solution to
global warming can involved trying several different paths,
solutions… for no one path seems to offer us a silver bullet
of a solution for global warming…
so it seems that in regards to problem solving, pluralistic
thinking would better be able to solve problems then mono
thinking. so let us continue this thought… what of value conflict,
two values conflict say, liberty with equality/public order or
mercy with justice, love with impartiality/fairness…
we can have conflicting values, freedom vs security…
is a common conflicting value in America today…
we have many who with mono thinking have
endorsed security above freedom…
but let us take a closer look at this…
we cannot judge between the two values as
far as taking one over the other… both values,
freedom and security have useful value to human beings……
we need both, but in conflict, which one should we choose?
mono thinkers on the right have picked security
as their guiding value… again see that moral document,
the US budget, and see that the value prized most in that
document is security…
but pluralistic thinkers will accept the need for security, but
also accept the need for freedom and love and possibilities
and other values……. in other words, pluralistic thinkers
accept more then one possibility, more then just one path, more
then just one vision, more then just one solution…
that enables pluralistic thinkers to cast about for multiple
solutions for every problem…it has been my experience in life,
all 60 years, that solutions are often found within different, diverse,
possibilities of life…mono thinkers cannot see outside of their own
path to see different solutions to problems… in other words,
pluralistic thinkers seen to be better able to find solutions to
problems because they have a wider field of solutions to work
from…
if there is one thing we can learn from evolution is this, one of the major
traits that allow species the chance to survive is adaptability… those who
can adapt, survive… mono thinkers have less adaptability then
pluralistic thinkers because there is only one solution for a mono
thinker… and that isn’t adapting…
so one of the basic skills of being human is problem solving,
we are forced to problem solve all our lives……
“what am I to do?” “What can I hope for?” “What should my values be?”
those are problems and mono thinkers might believe that “what am I to do?”
the only solution is the religious one, which is to worship god and obey god,
prepare the soul for heaven…… and how does that one path solve
the problem of overpopulation or pollution or global warming?
so let us return to the conflict between security and freedom…
let us face the fact that no matter how we try, we cannot
be 100% secure… it is an impossibility to be totally secure,
look at America today, even with all these attempts to force
security, we are less secure today then we were two years ago……
and let us address why we are less secure, guns… pure and simple,
we have conflated the gun culture in America to the point,
where gun advocates want guns in the hands of everyone in America…
this supposed to increase security…and everyone being
children and those with mental issues and basically anyone over the age
of 10………….
this has quite clearly allowed guns to fall into the hands of violent
right wing domestic terrorist… think of the shootings that have happened
in schools and public places, in which the GOP is quick to proclaim these
people as having mental issues but in reality they are white, right wing
domestic terrorist… anyone who kills for an ism an ideology is
a terrorist… thus anyone who in the Incel culture who kills in the name of
that ism is a terrorist…acts of violence committed in the name of an ism
or ideology is by definition, a terrorist…but what about those who are
violent or kill in the name of money……. they too are acting from an ism,
an ideology, the materialistic ism of capitalism which prays to mammon
and worships money/profits…………they too are terrorist for they have
committed violence in the name of a failed ism…….
and the solution to terrorism? as we have already mentioned,
security cannot be total, we cannot be completely safe and secure
from our domestic terrorism problem………
but we can find other solutions… allow people the
freedom to engage in ism’s or ideologies… but we take away
the means of committing massive violence… that means gun control…
the solution to gun violence is to lessen the amount of guns in
America… but single minded mono thinkers cannot
grasp that solution because in their mono thinking
guns is a means of security…but guns and more guns,
decreases the safety, security of everyone involved…
the mono thinking that guns protects people is leading to
a decrease in security and safety in the America society……
but mono thinkers are unable to see, think that way…
they are fixated on their one and only path, their only
solution…whereas pluralistic thinkers can see, think
of other solutions that will in fact make America safer…
but mono thinkers, in their set mono thinking are unable to see any
other path besides the path they are set upon…
so to engage in the conflict between values, we must
engage with pluralistic problem solving, not mono thinking
about the conflict between values…we must be adaptable
and flexible in our thinking about values…for values are
situational values…… like situational ethics, different values/ethics
are required during different times and different situations…
our values can certainly give us some base line understanding of
any situation, but sometimes we must use different values
for different situations…
there is no firm, set rules for engagement with values, just as
there is no firm, set rules for situational ethics………
but in our actions, let us engage in the higher values in our
engagement with situations…… we can have the higher values
become our guide to any situation… so we can use love or hope
or justice or peace or equality to guide our actions… just as we
can avoid the lower values in situations… anger, hate, lust, greed,
fear………
so that is our guide, we can use any number of higher values to
engage with a situation instead of using the lower values…
that means we can decide upon several different values to
work out an situation…so we are not committed to any one given value,
but we are committed to using the higher values to explore solutions
to any given situation…that is pluralistic thinking… we don’t commit
to any one higher value, we simply see which higher value will work in
a situation… meanwhile avoiding lower value solutions to a problem………
thus we avoid the mono thinker solution to any give problem is with
a lower value solution… thus he answers a situation with fear or with hate,
and that is how a mono thinker reacts to a situation… with only one value…
whereas a given situation may require multiple possibilities of values…
so we find our multiple possibilities within the higher values of human existence
and not in the lower values of human/animal existence…
Kropotkin