Civil Society

Cross-posting from a forthcoming post on another of my blogs:

I wish to live in a civil society – as do many people, who do not realise it. I do not want people starving on the street; I want people to be able to earn a decent income for a modest home and to be able to access good health care (unlike in the USA); I want those with power (especially in the media!) to be properly accountable. Where it goes a little further for me is that I expect people who have experienced misfortune – such as slipping in a public place – to not be driven to sleeping on the streets or not having adequate health care. There is a vengefulness in our society at present, a vengefulness I consider connected to the struggle to survive, which shows in resentment at money being spent on what some people are dismissing as carelessness – i.e., “why should I pay? They were careless!” Well, my argument is that payment is necessary so we can all share the benefits of a civil society – there may need to be restrictions imposed, such as forcing people to learn not to make avoidable mistakes, or accepting their personal contribution to events, but I still don’t want them reduced to destitution.

This was inspired by this news article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-08/law-council-lobbying-governments-to-change-public-liability-laws/7915680

More on civil society at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Civil_society&oldid=743572700, although that has also some strange - in my view - definitions of the term.