Rebecca Solnit writes:

Walking versus driving is an easy setup, but the same problem applies to most of the technological changes we embrace and many of the material and spatial ones. The gains are simple and we know the adjectives: convenient, efficient, safe, fast, predictable, productive. All good things for a machine, but lost in the list is the language to argue that we are not machines and our lives include all sorts of subtleties—epiphanies, alliances, associations, meanings, purposes, pleasures—that engineers cannot design, factories cannot build, computers cannot measure, and marketers will not sell. What we cannot describe vanishes into the ether, and so what begins as a problem of language ends as one of the broadest tragedies of our lives.

The telling words for me, here, are: that marketers will not sell.

From my dad, of course…

MYANMAR/BURMA — There was a moment back in late 2007 and early 2008 when I thought then First Lady Laura Bush might have some weight when it came to dealing with the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and the cause for Democracy in Myanmar. My enthusiasm was ill spent.

So when the Rococo Media go all gaga over a phone call between Bush and Suu Kyi, I’m just not impressed.

Please compare the actions of the very rich, very famous and very privileged former first lady and the everything but Tha-U-Wa-A-Pa.

You have to do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar. The Bush’s of the world won’t.

Last Tuesday at our monthly Socrates Café we discussed the question:

If given that Free Will does not exist and that we do live in a Skinnerian Universe where our actions are the sum of our genetics and previous environment, how ought we to restructure our legal system and our notion of accountability?

The discussion, as always, was lively and did not reach any conclusions. One of our valued regulars, however, was unable to attend and emailed me on Thursday.

Jeff,

Sorry I was unable to make it — how’d it go?

Happy Holidays,

Victor Balest

I replied:

Shalom Victor,

We missed you. This month’s question focused on how we ought to alter our legal system is we accept that Free Will does not exist, that every one is able to claim: My brain made me do it.

We all agreed that removing people dangerous to society to keep them from hurting others remained a first priority, but then we had to decide: then what?

Life in prison for all crimes? Execution? Exile to a desert island?

We also talked about what would we do if a chemical cure for a malfunctioning brain became available. Could a serial rapist “cured” in a manner that ensured society that he would never, ever, commit that crime again, be released after treatment?

B’shalom,

Jeff

And in return Victor wrote:

Jeff,

Question for paragraph #1 below: Even if Free Will does exist and I decided to perform an action, can I also assert that “my brain made me do it?” is this merely semantics?

Through my own free will I convinced my brain ( or my brain was convinced) to perform certain actions. Now, if was Hitler’s brain that made me do it, then I may not be responsible for my action. But what is incompatible with Free Will and saying “my brain made me do it?”

We don’t want to commit the fallacy of “Begging the Question” as some may wish to assert that “my brain” and “me” are distinct and separate entities, BUT that is Precisely the issue at hand—eh!

Paragraphs # 2 and #3:

Since there is no such thing as Free Will then I am not responsible for the execution of the criminal. My brain made me do it.

So why worry or argue about capital punishment? Is our decision to put a murderer in the electric chair a free choice or is it determined by circumstances and previous events? Clearly society does not consign people to lifetime imprisonment for all crimes– that is a red herring, indeed.

Execution for premeditated murder? It is my opinion that it would be a breach of justice if society does NOT execute a person where guilt has been determined beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, in my view it would be immoral NOT to execute such a person. I am not confusing vengeance with justice.

# 4: raises some interesting questions.

Regards,

Vic

This morning I attempted a response and I can see that this conversation has great potential. In recognition of that potential, I’ve decided to expand the conversation beyond Victor and myself to those present Tuesday evening, to other Socrates Café members not present and, in the interest of the conversation, to my readership in general.

This is what I wrote to Victor this morning:

Shalom Victor,

The core of the question comes from the Givens: a. free will does not exist and b. all of our actions are determined by a combination of our genetics and experience.

We were not arguing if either given is true – we’ve done that many times in the past when discussing related questions – but examining how those givens ought to change, if at all, our legal system.

Our present legal system exists for three purposes:

first, to protect society from those who act in an anti-social way as determined by that society;

second, to foster rehabilitation in those who act in an anti-social way through a combination of punishment, isolation and psychological/psychiatric treatment; and

third, serve as a deterrent to future anti-social behaviors in the individuals and others in society in general.

While everyone can agree on the importance of the first, the second and third are questionable at best and in the absence of choice on the part individual, meaningless.

If we cannot reliably rehabilitate nor deter (both are plainly true based upon our present rates of recidivism) then anti-social behavior judged serious enough to warrant the loss of personal freedom cannot have a set time placed on that loss because time does not reliably result in a change in the individual. (Yes, there are plenty of people who might be scared straight by a night in lock-up but they will always be a part of the whole.) Can society, in the absence of real, measurable evidence of change, in good conscience, release a convicted criminal back into society to re-offend?

Do we lock up shoplifters for life? Maybe. We briefly discussed the monetary costs of apprehension and imprisonment. We gladly, for the most part, agree to spend more than $50,000 per year to keep serial killers in prison. I think we would be much less likely to agree to that same cost for shoplifters. Ought we to do a cost-benefit analysis similar to the one that ultimately saw the pursuit of THX 1138, in the movie of the same name, ended because it had exceed budget?

B’shalom,

Jeff

Note: Because I think this discussion is well worth expansion, I’ve created a Socrates Café: The Morning After post on Have Coffee Will Write so that others might join in.

Please add your thoughts to this discussion in the comments below.

From my dad, of course…

MYANMAR/BURMA — Tha-U-Wa-A-Pa may never have seen the open ocean. He may never have seen a starfish. He most likely has never heard the story of two friends coming upon thousands of beached starfish. Regardless, however, like all good people, he has internalized the lesson of that fable and taken the additional step of making his understanding real in his world.

From The Irrawaddy:

Having retired from the Special Forces, Tha-U-Wa-A-Pa worked with the Wa until he was warned by the regime that if he ever came back to Burma he would never leave. Despite the threat, he did return in 1996, this time to Rangoon to meet Aung San Suu Kyi following her release from house arrest.

“I was so impressed by her humility, her strength and her love for her people,” he said while sitting around a table in the FBR temporary camp. “She asked me to help her people unify the ethnics and pray—so that is what I did.”

Following the visit with Suu Kyi, Tha-U-Wa-A-Pa was able to organize a meeting between 13 leaders of various ethnic groups who all signed an agreement saying they supported Suu Kyi as the democratic leader of Karen State.

Just as the agreement had been signed, the Burmese army launched an offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army, displacing thousands of villagers. Hearing the news he drove down to a spot near Mae Sot where the refugees were flooding over the border into Thailand.

Amid the chaos was Tha-U-Wa-A-Pa’s first meeting with Eliya Samson, a KNLA soldier and now the FBR’s chief medic, who helped him distribute medicine.

“Oppression is wrong and I want to do something about it. Shooting and raping young girls is just wrong, children watching their parents being killed point blank is wrong. I just saw the situation in Burma and I wanted to do something,” said Tha-U-Wa-A-Pa. “I had no weapon, little money and no power but I thought if I could help one person then they would be happy and I would be happy.”

As always, Margaret Mead was right.

Do what you can to make this one morning a good morning, Myanmar.

From my dad, of course…

From 1730 today until 1830 tomorrow, I will be off-line. There will be no new posts during this time, nor will I be checking email. Go for a walk. Have coffee with a friend. Read a book.

MYANMAR/BURMA — When the Dalai Lama had the chance to talk to members of the Jewish world community it was not their faith, ethics or even spiritutalty he was so much interested in but rather to understand how the Jewish people had survived for nearly 2,000 years in diaspora.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation is different. She and her people still live in their native country, but decades of abuse by military dictators has driven significant numbers from the country and they now live in a diaspora of their own. Suu Kyi sees connecting all the peoples who once called Myanmar home, regardless of where they live today, as vital to creating a free democratic state.

From Radio Free Asia:

I believe that if the Burmese people who live abroad and those who are in this country, along with all others who support us, work toward democracy together in a huge network, we will very quickly achieve success. To create that kind of network, the main thing will be to establish lines of communication. This is why we are trying as much as possible to establish lines of communication among those who live abroad and those who live here.

I just can’t say it enough: We build our communities with our conversations. Keep talking with each other.

Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.

From Twenty-First Century Stoic — From Zen to Zeno: How I Became a Stoic:

This, by the way, is yet another point of agreement between Zen and Stoicism: both philosophies of life point to tranquility as the thing in life most worth attaining. But wait a minute, if Zen and Stoicism share the same goal in living, namely, the attainment of tranquility, won’t they count as the same philosophy of life?

No, because although they share this goal, they offer different advice on how to attain it. Thus, a Zen Buddhist might advise those wishing to attain tranquility to spend hours each day trying to empty their mind of all thought. And when they are not doing this, they should spend time trying to solve koans, those paradoxical questions, the most famous of which is “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

The Stoics, by way of contrast, would recommend neither of these activities. Your time would be much better spent, they would suggest, analyzing what it is in your daily life that disrupts your tranquility and thinking about what you can do to prevent such disruptions. And to aid you in your thinking, the Stoics would go on to suggest that you take a look at the writings of Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus. There you will find much advice on how to deal with insults, how to overcome grief, how to avoid getting angry, how to take delight in the world you inhabit, and so forth.

What John Kasich and Ohio Republicans can’t do, Chinese Communists and Myanmarese dictators can.

From The Anatomy Of Evil by Michael Stone:

The voice of Will was ultimately stronger than the voice of Conscience. From a neurophysiological point of view, the inhibitory brain centers, and the pools of neurons within them, could not stem the tide of violent desire. It is worth emphasizing once more that the physiology of violence (and here I include the nonphysical forms of extreme humiliation and subjugation as well) and the physiology of evil are fundamentally the same. p. 295

I think that evil is simply that act we cannot imagine ourselves committing because we find it disgusting or repugnant.

From my dad, of course…

MYANMAR/BURMA — The Irrawaddy is reporting that several Non-Governmental Organizations are complaining to the United Nations that recently released Nobel Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is hampering their work. I think that the “N” in these NGOs is more than a bit suspect.

The notes on the meeting said Nay Win Maung and Khin Maung Yin told the UN envoy it had become more difficult to carry out their social works after Suu Kyi’s release because of what they perceived as her hardline political stand. Her call for a second Panglong conference, for example, was “dangerous,” they said.

However, the notes didn’t elaborate precisely on how the NGOs felt Suu Kyi’s political stand could hamper their social works. The Irrawaddy tried to contact Nay Win Maung to obtain further elaboration but couldn’t reach him.

Nay Win Maung is one of the founders of Myanmar Egress, which actively promoted the Nov. 7 election through voter education programs. He also owns the local weekly journal The Voice. Khin Maung Yin is a leader of the Pyo Pin Program, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development via the British Embassy in Rangoon.

“They don’t view the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi positively,” said Thiha Kyaing. “They said they could do their social works better before Daw Suu was freed and that after her release the political situation became shaky. It was difficult for them to operate their works.”

Thiha Kyaing said he didn’t share these views. “Most of the people who met the special envoy are not really working at the grassroots level and they spoke mostly about policy issues, neither truly representing nor knowing the real situation of the community.”

I wonder how the people these organizations reportedly served felt about their service?

Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.