“My version of relativism is pluralistic and attributes functions to morality that in combination with human nature place limits on what could count as a true morality. Unlike many other relativists, I do not hold that people are subject to a morality because they all belong to a certain group. That is, I don't hold that being a member of a group makes one's subject to some set of generally accepted norms. What is true is that others around us teach us morality and moral language, so they inevitably influence us.” PeopleLanguageMoralTeachInfluenceHuman NatureMoralityAcceptedNormRelativism Author:David Wong
“The Chinese concept of rights arose, then, in a context of power. Western nations had become powerful enough, and imposed their will in nakedly aggressive fashion, so that they had to be addressed in their terms. Eventually rights in Chinese thought are attributed not just to nation states but also to individual people.” PeopleEnoughIndividualTermPowerfulFashionWesternChineseAggressive Author:David Wong
“People come to have different moral beliefs because they have different non-moral beliefs about relevant facts. People are disposed to believe whatever justifies the practices and institutions that benefit them. But I argue that not all moral differences can be explained away in such a fashion. Some of the most profound disagreements come from differences in priority assigned to values such as relationship and community on the one hand, and individual rights and personal autonomy for the individual, on the other hand.” PeopleBelieveDifferentValuesIndividualBeliefCommunityMoralFashionProfoundArguingPrioritiesJustifyRelevantAutonomyDisagreementIndividual Rights Author:David Wong
“We can cooperate more easily with those who more easily intelligible to us, who are more familiar to us. But the advantages of specialization of labor often push us in the direction working with people who have different strengths and viewpoints than we do. I think that this is one major reason why moralities are always subject to change, because some of the people we cooperate with are going to be different from us in ways that often lead them to have different value orientations than we have; and interacting with them can change us.” PeopleThinkingDifferentReasonValuesMoralityLaborFamiliar Author:David Wong
“It is not simply the individual who benefits from and is protected by rights, but the society as a whole. Protected freedoms to dissent and criticize those in power help keep abuses of power in check. They combat tendencies of elites to become isolated from and ignorant of the people they deeply affect through their decisions.” PeopleHelpingIndividualDecisionAbuseIgnorantCriticizeDissentAbuse Of Power Author:David Wong
“Globalization in part means that a lot of people are walking into the room and in some cases becoming influential or even dominant voices in the conversation. Sometimes they are like party-crashers coming in and pushing people around, scooping up the valuables and eating up the food in the frig - bribing political leaders, undermining traditional economies and the ways of life that are interwoven with them, replacing them with new economic models that effectively exploit developing countries for their labor and resources.” PeopleMeanCountrySometimesPoliticalLeaderEconomyEconomicWalkingEatingLaborGlobalizationInfluential Author:David Wong
“I do fear that global capitalism is making us more like each other in regrettable ways, e.g., more people are increasingly captivated by spectacles of violence and aggression or of conspicuous consumption that are the subjects of the most commercially viable films across countries precisely because they don't depend for their appeal on cultural fine points; and more people are prone to deal with others on a purely instrumental and impersonal basis.” PeopleCountryFilmViolenceCapitalismAggressionSpectacles Author:David Wong
“The demonization of Islam and immigrants shows that perception of difference remains one of our biggest problems, and maybe always will be for a species that began in small groups competing with other groups for resources. These apparently competing forces for sameness and difference sometimes even seem to be mutually reinforcing. The homogenizing force of globalization tends to make many people feel they are on the losing side, economically and culturally, and it is they who are most easily turned against those "others" who are demonized by demagogues.” PeopleSometimesProblemPerceptionLosingIslamCompetingGlobalizationSameness Author:David Wong
“The silver lining of Brexit and Trump is that it has undermined the perception that globalization is an unstoppable force, whether or not we think it is a good thing or a bad thing. There have always been losers and as well as winners in this process, and cultural minorities have been among the most vulnerable losers. Now that sizable numbers of people in the most advanced economies have made their grievances felt in a fashion that is hard to ignore.” PeopleThinkingEconomyFashionPerceptionGood ThingsVulnerableWinnerSilverLoserGlobalizationGrievanceUnstoppable Author:David Wong
“It must be acknowledged that an increasing proportion of the world's population is living in cities, in almost completely human-made environments. But we should also acknowledge that there are still a considerable number of people who wish to live in harmony with nature, and that globalization has made their ways of life increasing difficult to sustain.” PeopleWishDifficultEnvironmentHarmonyAcknowledgeGlobalization Author:David Wong
“Which would prove I'm a monster, Arnie? Sacrificing the people I love for the fight? Or walking away from the fight to save the people i love?” PeopleFightingSacrificeWalkingProveMonstersWalking Away Book:John Dies at the End Source: John Dies at the End
“PEOPLE DIE. This is the fact the world desperately hides from us from birth. Long after you find out the truth about sex and Santa Claus, this other myth endures, this one about how you’ll always get rescued at the last second and if not, your death will at least mean something and there’ll be somebody there to hold your hand and cry over you. All of society is built to prop up that lie, the whole world a big, noisy puppet show meant to distract us from the fact that at the end, you’ll die, and you’ll probably be alone.” PeopleIfsWorldMeanLongEndsWholeFactsShowsHandsBigsLastsLyingDiesSexCryBirthBuiltEndureMythWhole WorldOver YouShow MeSantaPuppetsNoisyPropsSanta ClausPuppet Shows Book:John Dies at the End Source: John Dies at the End
