Do you fear the desintegration of society as we know it?

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I find a very big difference between most NTs and most Aspies in their attitude towards change in society.

Most NTs will become enraged with fear if you do or say something that might change society as we know it were more people to hear you and believe you and follow you. Regardless of how fortunate these NTs are in the current society, how much it benefits them. They seem to believe that society can only change for the worse, that humans are intrinsically bad.

I find many, many Aspies on WP who don't seem to feel the same way, and the possibility of society change doesn't make them feel threatened.

Edited to add an example for more clarity:
I find that most NTs, if I pressure them with the drawbacks of white lies, start panicking and yelling that if we all said the truth, then society would lose its smoothness and God knows what evils would come down upon us, because humans are basically evil and not to be trusted when telling the truth. I don't find this same belief among Aspies. Why?????

Last edited by Greentea on 18 Aug 2009, 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

Change is necessary. Societies are emergent. If we don't change, then we lock ourselves into a loop, which is precisely what we've done for quite a while. The Mayan calendar reveals an imminent change after the winter solstice of 2012. Doom-and-gloomers love to think this means the end of the world, but that contradicts the intent of the calendar which shows the world moving through different stages. I welcome change. In fact, I actively encourage it.

I voted "other" since it depends entirely on what the change is.

Here in the U.S., there is media blitz about the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival. One of the big themes is how people feel about change. People who were at that festival and people who weren't but wished they were or identified with the sentiments felt very positively about changing society. "It is the dawning of the Age of Aqarius" and all that. Other people looked at Woodstock, saw mud, noise, drugs and sex and decided the change was very bad.

I don't think this is an AS/NT divide. I think it's a divide between the people who are happy with the current situation (and thus don't want change) versus the people who are unhappy with the current situation and do want change. Which is exactly why U.S. President Obama ran on a platform of "change". Now there is a divide between people who think he has already changed things too much and people who think he hasn't changed them enough.

Even on WP, people don't uniformly embrace change. It depends entirely on what the change is and whether it would make things potentially better or potentially worse. There are several threads fearing the social changes that could come about if an accurate genetic test for an autism gene makes selective abortion for that a reality.

All in all, I don't think people, AS or NT, broadly think "social change is always good" or "social change is always bad" but rather evaluate on a case by case basis and decide based opn the specific changes whether this is The Dawning of a Wonderful New Age or if it is Going To Hell In A Handbasket.

No.

Me mountain man.

Pray for it to be honest. Not because I expect anything better or worse to arise, I'm just utterly bored with all of this. In truth, when it comes to delivering peace and prosperity, Western society is one of (if not) the best in history. It's the screaming hypocrisy of it all I detest. Since hypocrisy usually takes time to develop and embed itself within a social system, social change might somewhat temporarily rid of us it.

If there's a difference between me(and maybe other autistics) and 'NTs', it's that I hate hypocrisy more than I like peace and prosperity. Probably.

It's popular to say only the strong survive when it's actually the most adaptable.
re: 12/21/2012- that date happens to be my 13th year of sobriety Apparently the # 13 was significant to the Mayans in a very positive sense. It has to do with the lunar cycle I think. Actually I think there are some interesting things going on astronomically on that date but you'd have to Google it for the details. I don't retain details.

wow, they give you credit for time not lived sober in your meetings? I have gone to groups where they joked we should have double our sobriety time just for attending, but I haven't been to groups where they grant you time sober in advance!

have I put in enough smilies to let you know I am gently teasing? I hope so!

Merle

No.

I'm actually looking forward to 2012.

As an adolescent I was quite on the right side of the political spectrum, during university on the left, right now I'm just uninterested, but one thing for sure I love Margaret Thatcher's famous quote "And, you know, there is no such thing as society"...

Actually, no. I mourn it. I voted "Dread it" in this survey, but we are past that point. It's over. Either we're going under, or we're headed for a massive revolution, French-style. Unfortunately, everyone is so drugged up, sold-out and distracted by all the "bread and circuses," that there's no one left to see what has happened.

If you've ever wondered what if felt like to live in Germany, half-way through the war, this is it. This is what it felt like. The perpetrators don't know that they are evil. They're just good little soldiers, doing their jobs. Even when that means turning on your own neighbors and family. Don't think, just obey. Report any suspicious behavior. Otherwise, mind your own business and keep your head down.

It's about a bunch of mindless drones who don't know what they want, know that they are suffering, but are not able to wake up and see the cause. Like abused children who cling to their abusive parents, people are clinging to a status quo that has betrayed them. Resistance is futile. Whistle-blowers are punished. The major media is controlled and tells nothing but lies and circuses -- they're not even offering bread any more. Just serving up a hot, steaming bowl of fear and crap.

Autism is the canary in this coal mine. It's hurting everyone. It just hits us first and hardest.

I want to turn the whole thing around. Rather than spending all this time and money and energy looking for the genes for Autism, we should be looking for the genes that predispose one to fascism. Rather than training the Autistic toddler to lie and conform, we should be training the fascist toddler to show compassion and to tell the truth.

That was kinda the point of every major philosopher, every major religion, every major political movement or revolution, every sensible thing that's ever been done in the history of the planet: to STOP acting like a bunch of savages and THINK about what we do to each other and why.

Um, not exactly. It delivered it's "peace and prosperity" at a huge cost to its victims. "Manifest Destiny" has changed its name a few times, but it is still the official policy of the US Government. We used to talk about freedom, equality and all that good stuff for our own citizens (assuming you really are a first class citizen, and not a defective or a member of the wrong gender or race...) but no one in a position of power ever really considered offering it to the rest of the world. Now, no one has it. No one has peace, prosperity, freedom or safety any more. Day by day, drop by drop, the fascists have taken everything and given us nothing.

Those who have want to keep. Those who think they still have or hope to somehow get, will mindlessly defend the masters, no matter what. That includes everyone from Uncle Tom to Ashley Wilkes. From Wall Street to New Orleans. No one is winning any more. Just desperately clinging anything that looks solid.

Last edited by Tahitiii on 18 Aug 2009, 9:37 am, edited 3 times in total.

I'm hoping for it.

As things stand now, we are on a train heading off the tracks and off the cliff. Something needs to change, and I'm hoping it's change in a positive way...not change taking us more in the bad direction we're already on.

Tantiby, well said. Do you mean that when I inadvertedly say that the emperor is nude (as it happens to me so often), and the NT goes all rageful on me and I manage to get them to calm down and tell me what was so horrible about what I said, and they answer that people believing me on that would mean "the end of society as we know it", and this person is not rich, quite marginalized and with poor prospects, I have to ask them "so I see you haven't lost hope of becoming one of them against all odds, then, that's why you defend the status quo?"

It's like playing the lottery. (Otherwise known as the stupidity tax.) Everyone knows that there's not enough to go around, that this system will only allow a few winners and a majority of losers. Those who can, take by force or by fraud. Those who can't, make magical wishes.

Or maybe -- maybe if we all hold hands and think happy thoughts, the politicians will smarten up and clean up this mess. Maybe they'll all spontaneously grow the brains and balls that will allow them to do something right for a change. It's never happened before but, as the lottery commercial says, "Ya never know."

Sounds good to me. This society sucks. Down to the very fabric.

sinsboldly it took me a minute to realize what you meant-I guess that is presumptuous of me but I actually don't find not drinking a daily struggle. My sister in law is the child of an alcoholic and says she doesn't think my personality fits the profile and my addiction is more OCD related. I don't know-I do know if I do take a drink it will trigger something deadly. AA meetings did not click with me probably because in my town the meetings are a little cliquish and since I am socially delayed I wasn't comfortable there. I was in therapy for years which helped me correct some harmful thought processes.
Tahitiii I've read that sentiment before on some political blogs by people who were there. I think a good analogy is the one about the frog who doesn't realize it's being cooked alive in a pot because the temperature is increased so gradually.
also re: what you said:

....YES! thank you.

Other: I hope/wish for the disintegration of society as we know it.

I hope to one day see that (almost all) organised, politically influential, religions are gone for good. The day that religion is no longer politically or economical relevant.

Separation of church and state should be reciprocal: Churches and other religious organisations should be politically neutral, just as that the state is religiously neutral.

The state should also not fund or promote religious organisations in any way, not even for their humanitarian activities. If their god(s) wants to keep them around their god(s) can provide them with the necessary funds; If however even their own god(s) does not provide for them, why should the government?