Greetings Economists, On Nov 18, 2006, at 9:32 AM, Jim Devine wrote:
The rule against having cults of personality should be made general.
Doyle; What rule? There is no such socialist rule. That's important in my view. What would the rule be based upon? In a technical sense, avatars in video games for one are an exploration with current technology in this area. What rule would you place on avatars? I know this; such entities (cults) have certain sorts of limitations in contemporary society that ought to be considered. People themselves can't relate to vast numbers of people and this lack in the social structure implies that society lacks a common sort of personality for everyone to relate to. If you say it's a rule to not have a personality cult you imply that large scale social attachments actually are that regulated but in fact they aren't. The mechanism for cults of that size is the mass media. But the mass media can't provide an avatar for people to relate to because of the one-to-many structure of the current mass media. If an avatar is to be built for a proper socialist purpose then I think your statement is worth taking up. It has many implications and to my mind is a massive advance in the culture of socialism. Essentially religious cultures postulate the mass mind without the technical means to build a conscious like avatar for all to interact with. Since it is not realistic it fails and forces say Christians to follow a fantasy of community and the rewards of heaven rather than a real social unity with a rewarding life on Earth. thanks, Doyle Saylor
