Spirit Of Community

Rating:
Summary: A Proposal for Stepford Communities
Review: Communitarianism - as proposed in Amitai Etzioni's "The Spirit of Community" assumes the moral legitimacy and truth of your community's assumptions about your life. It offers an external morality without epistemology, theology or logic, without any messy philosophic notions of essence or virtue, without judge or jury. It offers a slap-dash recipe for suffocating Stepford communities where neighbors are encouraged to interfere in each others lives. And this call to action is not grounded firmly in a basis of friendship, common humanity or agape caring as in Scott Peck's work on community building.

Mr. Etzioni himself should not be pointing any fingers. His communitarian morality represents either an ineptly presented or a cleverly muddled patchwork of positions with a little something for everyone. His occasionally tempting construct was designed to attract supporters for an underlying agenda of campaign reform in Washington, which he openly states must be leveraged from a position outside of politics through the political energy of a new social movement tied to morality.

The self-declared "single core thesis" on which Etzioni states Communitarianism is based is that "Americans .... can now act without fear. We can act with out fear that attempts to shore up our values... will cause us to charge into a dark tunnel of moralist and authoritarianism that leads to a church-dominated state or a right-wing world."

Besides the obvious difficulty in the notion of "shoring up" values, this statement is not a premise. "Trust me you liberals and libertarians, there is nothing to fear in supporting my as yet unstated proposals to curtail your self-centered freedoms," Etzioni seems to coo reassuringly. His self-declared premise does not undergird any of the recommendations he subsequently proposes - but it is the basis on which he selected them.

He suggests "notching" rights established in the constitution - after all if you have a right to privacy how can the community find out what you're up to? He states individual conscience is not enough to inspire virtue, and that communities should marshal focused social pressure to force people to do right. He later expresses dismay that the public pays so much attention to the private scandals of politicians. Hey - attack Washington about something that really matters and save the moral nit-picking for the neighbors.

The family should be strengthened, he says. Somebody should be home with the children. Etzioni repeatedly says it doesn't have to be the wife. It is a suggestion already among the compromises couples routinely work out without this communitarian guidance.

When he talks about the farm boys raised in moral homes and working for other farmers in moral family-like settings, it's interesting to note how ineffective his externally imposed morality really is. The minute these farm boys head to the city they turn into reprobates according to Etzioni.

Just as an aside, he notes we are all born half a human and must find wholeness in marriage. He declares flatly that thousands of productive single and divorced people are "damaged" goods, "in every sense of the word." This is common knowledge according to Etzioni, with no need for argument or supporting evidence for this outrageous dehumanization of significant portion of the population.

With no real premise stated, the first two sections of the book set the communitarian table with a smorgasbord of many flexible cheerleading-type phrases and many contradictory statements. Even the books opening bit - the pathetic flag-waving "We hold these truths" says very little in specific terms. Yes - -"We can do "A" (fill in some appealing but vague proposal) without offending you by causing "B" (fill in some authoritarian horror.)

No where in this patchwork of moralizing and reassurance do we find Etzioni's motivations for stitching this crazy quilt together. It's not until the third section "The Public Interest." that we come to a clear sequence of cogent reasoning - which I propose is the underlying motive for the entire unwieldy structure in first two chapters. In this section he targets big-monied special interests in Washington. "What is missing is a wide recognition that special interests are at the core of our systemic problems, a consensus powerful enough to unlock their grip on our legislature," (Page 221). Great. but does does his legislative end justify his means?

What Etzioni really wants is a "neoprogressive, communitarian," legislative solution:

Finance congressional elections with public funds." (Starting on page 234)
"Curb the flow of private money into the coffers of members of congress.
Impose a ban on PACS."
Reduce the cost of running for office by offering free TV and radio ads.
Promote disclosure of the political process by lobbyists sign into a registration book each time they visit a congressional office.
Enhance the enforcement of all rules, old and new
Enhance the role of political parties - Channel campaign contributions through political parties rather than directly to individual candidates. (Isn't that the so-called "soft money" that is so hard to track.?)

To get these reforms Etzioni has a plan: "There must be a new source of political energy sufficiently powerful to over come strong opposition and to propel far reaching changes..." (Page 226) "Historical experience suggest that social movements are the source of the needed political energy... They command cadres that mobilize the rank and file to what ever social action is called for..." (Page 230)

From the text of "The Spirit of Community" it's hard to avoid concluding that entire moral construct of Etzioni's communitarianism has been built to sign people up so later they can be called out to vote for his legislative reforms.

As a member of an about-to-be-oppressed minority, I'm taking my damaged goods over the to American Civil Liberties Union. My wallet suddenly seems one ID card too light.

Rating:
Summary: A Proposal for Stepford Communities
Review: Communitarianism - as proposed in Amitai Etzioni's "The Spirit of Community" assumes the moral legitimacy and truth of your community's assumptions about your life. It offers an external morality without epistemology, theology or logic, without any messy philosophic notions of essence or virtue, without judge or jury. It offers a slap-dash recipe for suffocating Stepford communities where neighbors are encouraged to interfere in each others lives. And this call to action is not grounded firmly in a basis of friendship, common humanity or agape caring as in Scott Peck's work on community building.

Mr. Etzioni himself should not be pointing any fingers. His communitarian morality represents either an ineptly presented or a cleverly muddled patchwork of positions with a little something for everyone. His occasionally tempting construct was designed to attract supporters for an underlying agenda of campaign reform in Washington, which he openly states must be leveraged from a position outside of politics through the political energy of a new social movement tied to morality.

The self-declared "single core thesis" on which Etzioni states Communitarianism is based is that "Americans .... can now act without fear. We can act with out fear that attempts to shore up our values... will cause us to charge into a dark tunnel of moralist and authoritarianism that leads to a church-dominated state or a right-wing world."

Besides the obvious difficulty in the notion of "shoring up" values, this statement is not a premise. "Trust me you liberals and libertarians, there is nothing to fear in supporting my as yet unstated proposals to curtail your self-centered freedoms," Etzioni seems to coo reassuringly. His self-declared premise does not undergird any of the recommendations he subsequently proposes - but it is the basis on which he selected them.

He suggests "notching" rights established in the constitution - after all if you have a right to privacy how can the community find out what you're up to? He states individual conscience is not enough to inspire virtue, and that communities should marshal focused social pressure to force people to do right. He later expresses dismay that the public pays so much attention to the private scandals of politicians. Hey - attack Washington about something that really matters and save the moral nit-picking for the neighbors.

The family should be strengthened, he says. Somebody should be home with the children. Etzioni repeatedly says it doesn't have to be the wife. It is a suggestion already among the compromises couples routinely work out without this communitarian guidance.

When he talks about the farm boys raised in moral homes and working for other farmers in moral family-like settings, it's interesting to note how ineffective his externally imposed morality really is. The minute these farm boys head to the city they turn into reprobates according to Etzioni.

Just as an aside, he notes we are all born half a human and must find wholeness in marriage. He declares flatly that thousands of productive single and divorced people are "damaged" goods, "in every sense of the word." This is common knowledge according to Etzioni, with no need for argument or supporting evidence for this outrageous dehumanization of significant portion of the population.

With no real premise stated, the first two sections of the book set the communitarian table with a smorgasbord of many flexible cheerleading-type phrases and many contradictory statements. Even the books opening bit - the pathetic flag-waving "We hold these truths" says very little in specific terms. Yes - -"We can do "A" (fill in some appealing but vague proposal) without offending you by causing "B" (fill in some authoritarian horror.)

No where in this patchwork of moralizing and reassurance do we find Etzioni's motivations for stitching this crazy quilt together. It's not until the third section "The Public Interest." that we come to a clear sequence of cogent reasoning - which I propose is the underlying motive for the entire unwieldy structure in first two chapters. In this section he targets big-monied special interests in Washington. "What is missing is a wide recognition that special interests are at the core of our systemic problems, a consensus powerful enough to unlock their grip on our legislature," (Page 221). Great. but does does his legislative end justify his means?

What Etzioni really wants is a "neoprogressive, communitarian," legislative solution:

Finance congressional elections with public funds." (Starting on page 234)
"Curb the flow of private money into the coffers of members of congress.
Impose a ban on PACS."
Reduce the cost of running for office by offering free TV and radio ads.
Promote disclosure of the political process by lobbyists sign into a registration book each time they visit a congressional office.
Enhance the enforcement of all rules, old and new
Enhance the role of political parties - Channel campaign contributions through political parties rather than directly to individual candidates. (Isn't that the so-called "soft money" that is so hard to track.?)

To get these reforms Etzioni has a plan: "There must be a new source of political energy sufficiently powerful to over come strong opposition and to propel far reaching changes..." (Page 226) "Historical experience suggest that social movements are the source of the needed political energy... They command cadres that mobilize the rank and file to what ever social action is called for..." (Page 230)

From the text of "The Spirit of Community" it's hard to avoid concluding that entire moral construct of Etzioni's communitarianism has been built to sign people up so later they can be called out to vote for his legislative reforms.

As a member of an about-to-be-oppressed minority, I'm taking my damaged goods over the to American Civil Liberties Union. My wallet suddenly seems one ID card too light.

Rating:
Summary: Common Sense Revisted
Review: Communitarianism, I believe, is the natural, common sense philosophy towards personal, social and political life that the majority of this nation holds. Before Dr. Etzioni and his cohorts in the DC area gathered, no one had put into words what many of us have felt and believed. The world is not one of absolutes; there are many shades of grey. Individual rights cannot rule supreme and the needs of the community cannot always overrule the needs of the individual. There has to be a middle ground and I believe this book speaks to that middle ground.

Many people find it easy to complain and degrade our social and polical structures and people in general, without suggesting any solutions. Dr. Etzioni provides clearcut resolutions to the problems of our day, such as drug use, AIDS, and even the corruption of our politicians.

What strikes me most about this book is how Etzioni shows that Americans have come to feel entitled to "rights" that are not really rights, and all this without having any responsibilities in turn.

If you wonder constantly how the ACLU can mount so many campaigns against laws that seem perfectly reasonable to you, or if you are tired of hearing kids getting kicked out of school for giving a friend a cough drop (no drugs at all!!!) then you will enjoy this book. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Common Sense Revisted
Review: Communitarianism, I believe, is the natural, common sense philosophy towards personal, social and political life that the majority of this nation holds. Before Dr. Etzioni and his cohorts in the DC area gathered, no one had put into words what many of us have felt and believed. The world is not one of absolutes; there are many shades of grey. Individual rights cannot rule supreme and the needs of the community cannot always overrule the needs of the individual. There has to be a middle ground and I believe this book speaks to that middle ground.

Many people find it easy to complain and degrade our social and polical structures and people in general, without suggesting any solutions. Dr. Etzioni provides clearcut resolutions to the problems of our day, such as drug use, AIDS, and even the corruption of our politicians.

What strikes me most about this book is how Etzioni shows that Americans have come to feel entitled to "rights" that are not really rights, and all this without having any responsibilities in turn.

If you wonder constantly how the ACLU can mount so many campaigns against laws that seem perfectly reasonable to you, or if you are tired of hearing kids getting kicked out of school for giving a friend a cough drop (no drugs at all!!!) then you will enjoy this book. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Really thought provoking
Review: I had to read this book for my political science class, and completed it well ahead of the due date. Etzioni writes a book that clearly targets what he believes is wrong with our system, where the wrongs came from, how we can fix it, and then he ends with a call for us to join him in his Communitarian movement.

The problem, he believes, is that there is an over-emphasis on individual "rights." Everyone these days believes that they have so very many rights, and that stating a right is an END to any argument. What we really need, Etzioni believes, is a new system where we have several layers of communities within communities that take care of one another.

He also discusses the need for a large reformation of our money-driven political system, and a desire to sweep our teenagers away from places like McDonald's, where the only thing acquired is a paycheck.

The family must be restored as well, because family values are gone these days. Parents should weigh their children into account before divorcing, and laws should be made to make divorcing less easy.

Sadly, Etzioni goes a bit too far and loses sight of the American Dream in the end. There is no way that the U.S. as a whole will ever give up our success-oriented system and start devoting all of our time to one another. It's hard to imagine achieving a "community" in gang-ridden South Central L.A.

Worst of all, Etzioni descends into Reagan/Eighties bashing in the first few pages! Sure sign of a socialist loser. Ah well...nice try at disguising your TRUE agenda, Etzioni. While I don't agree with his ideas, this is still a good book to read, and that's why it gets a high rating. Check it out if your beliefs are rock-solid, or else you might swept into following this stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Really thought provoking
Review: I had to read this book for my political science class, and completed it well ahead of the due date. Etzioni writes a book that clearly targets what he believes is wrong with our system, where the wrongs came from, how we can fix it, and then he ends with a call for us to join him in his Communitarian movement.

The problem, he believes, is that there is an over-emphasis on individual "rights." Everyone these days believes that they have so very many rights, and that stating a right is an END to any argument. What we really need, Etzioni believes, is a new system where we have several layers of communities within communities that take care of one another.

He also discusses the need for a large reformation of our money-driven political system, and a desire to sweep our teenagers away from places like McDonald's, where the only thing acquired is a paycheck.

The family must be restored as well, because family values are gone these days. Parents should weigh their children into account before divorcing, and laws should be made to make divorcing less easy.

Sadly, Etzioni goes a bit too far and loses sight of the American Dream in the end. There is no way that the U.S. as a whole will ever give up our success-oriented system and start devoting all of our time to one another. It's hard to imagine achieving a "community" in gang-ridden South Central L.A.

Worst of all, Etzioni descends into Reagan/Eighties bashing in the first few pages! Sure sign of a socialist loser. Ah well...nice try at disguising your TRUE agenda, Etzioni. While I don't agree with his ideas, this is still a good book to read, and that's why it gets a high rating. Check it out if your beliefs are rock-solid, or else you might swept into following this stuff.