Social Choices:

Groups:
-social definitions   (how do groups define themselves and others)
-social interactions (how do the different groups interact, within and between groups)

Individuals:
 -personal definitions (how do individuals define themselves and others)
         -do you want social systems based on:
harmony
perfection
preservation of "face"
tradition, etc.

or
logic
justice
efficiency
understanding
profit
success, etc...
or
something else?


 -personal interactions (how do individuals interact with each other)
  -do you prefer:
         -cooperative systems (listening, discussing, explaining and sharing common neccesities)
                   -coordinating aims, strategies and explaining misunderstandings
         -neutral systems (people look after themselves )
                   -each person is an island unto themselves
         -agressive systems (competing for common neccesities)
-dog eat dog


Co-operative and Competitive systems:

Hierarchical systems of  (mutual) support, where lower class (or machines) do the work which supports the upper classes, only makes sense in the context of a co-operative system (where upper classes also support the lower classes). Without bi-directional support, the system easily becomes exploitative (if based on humans and not machines).....

Top-Down or Bottom Up?

Does society exist for the benifit of the people -or do the people exist for the benifit of society?

Is the concept of Social Class still valid?

Is the concept of "Class"  significantly different to the concept of "Culture"?
     (aesthetics?)
         (active choice   -deciding to do things in prefered ways)
         (passive choice -reacting to situations and circumstance in prefered ways)

Are "National Class Profiles" relevant to understanding the problems of economic development in "developing" countries?
    (does the distribution of the social classes vary in different countries?)
    (are there reletively high levels of low and under- class in poor countries?)
    (how do social conditions relate to social mobility -upwards, downwards and sideways?)

Is the "Class War" really dead?

What is "Class"?
  -Based on social-economic divisions, but perhaps also different "cultural" systms within a single "society"
 (large social groups -hierarchies of social groups -perhaps dependant on economic context)
 -Different behaviour patterns based on (developing ecology based on living in different (economic and social) worlds)
      -Aesthetics (personal and group preferences) (as "ballence" this is more important than one might imagine)
      -Living and working conditions
      -Levels of hygienie practice (social, mental, physical, etc.) -often related to working conditions and financial income
      -Levels of education
      -Acess to Financial resources
      -Access to decision making process
      -Access to (social, cultural and economic) information

-What are the consequencs of continual evolution upon specialied (differentiated) social functions?
    What are the implications for a "farmer, soldier, priest" (or other social caste systems -the human body as metaphor, for example)
        -are the earlier social models (social functions and hierarchies) still valid? Do they still exist? Are they needed?
        -how does "questioning" these (incarnations?) relate to creative problem solving?
         (the role of philosophical taxonomy)



Trevor Batten
July 2006