Law in Contemporary Society

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CourageAndMasks 4 - 08 Mar 2009 - Main.KeithEdelman
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 I was struck today by Eben's call for courage.

I signed up for this class because I was impressed by Eben's speech at the assembly where we were introduced to the electives. Here was someone who could somehow get away with saying what he thought - without any hedging or toning down. I thought, "I want to be able to do that".

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 Patrick, I think you are right that certain individuals are extremely skilled at placing radical ideas in very stealth ways. I recently read an essay by Frederick Douglass, "The Constitution of the United States: Is it Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?" in which Douglass makes a fairly compelling argument for why the Constitution opposed slavery. His arguments are almost deceptive, but it was amazing that he claimed in 1860 that it was "obvious" that the Constitution opposed slavery. As you also mention, other individuals are extremely skilled at putting their radical ideas at the forefront. Personally, I think the key to a great writer is knowing which tactic to use at a particular time.

-- LaurenRosenberg - 06 Mar 2009

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>		While stealth tactics are often needed, I agree with Lauren that the real skill involves knowing when to use a particular strategy. This coincides with the skill of creating certain social scripts to produce the desired results. Might we establish some rough guidelines to help determine which approach is appropriate? Experience will certainly fine-tune our decisions, but maybe we can accelerate this process?

For instance, is an aggressive approach appropriate when dealing with an adversary who is already quite opposed to your position? By contrast, should subtle tactics be used to slightly alter an ally's position?

-- KeithEdelman - 08 Mar 2009

 
 
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Revision 4r4 - 08 Mar 2009 - 19:34:02 - KeithEdelman
Revision 3r3 - 06 Mar 2009 - 03:59:21 - LaurenRosenberg
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