“I thought about the cliche of a school kid being forced to give up his lunch money to bullies. I thought about how he’d need to go hungry while the bullies had a good time with his cash, and thought how it is easier to force others to sacrifice then to sacrifice yourself. I thought about the visceral way in which the threat of coercion is always be present in the lives of some people, and how they have to take into account in everything they do. I also thought of the way the bullies get constant sadistic pleasure out of it and a regular infusion of extra money. Coercion is near.”
I like this, it was what I was looking for in a discussion board.
Question, do you think this short-term coercion is a common mechanistic used in our society? I would argue that most of the coercion you see in organized societies is used to force coordination (aka long-term)
Question, do you think this short-term coercion is a common mechanistic used in our society? I would argue that most of the coercion you see in organized societies is used to force coordination (aka long-term)
I agree with jimrandomh’s assessment that “coercion” is too broad and vague of a term. There are many kinds of coercion which use many different mechanisms ranging from physical violence to forceful persuasion and emotional appeals. There’s the physical bullying kind of coercion, there’s coercion by threat of losing social approval, there’s being at work and being told by your boss to do something you don’t like, there’s a parent telling their kid to go to bed or else, there’s a lover trying to guilt their partner into giving them sex...
And “short-term” versus “long-term” isn’t very well defined, either. (What about medium-term?) It’s a bit like asking, “what do you think is more common, thinking for a short- or long-term purpose”?
I’m also not sure that “short-term” and “long-term” are a good way of classifying things into near and far. For instance, ideals about improving and ennobling yourself in school are “far” and part of what motivates one to go to school, and this is a long-term objective. But the actual task of going to school in the present and actually attending the lectures and doing the exercises is “near”. (And effectively studying is difficult because the near and far modes don’t necessarily pull in the same direction.)
I would say that if we did presume that it made sense to classify coercion as either “near” or “far”—which I’m not convinced that it does—then it would make more sense to put it as “near”. Coercion usually isn’t about remote noble ideals, but concrete pragmatic self-benefiting goals. That’s “near”. Even though there may often be a high temporal distance, the one doing the coercion can often see the progress being made towards the ultimate goal in the here and now.
“I thought about the cliche of a school kid being forced to give up his lunch money to bullies. I thought about how he’d need to go hungry while the bullies had a good time with his cash, and thought how it is easier to force others to sacrifice then to sacrifice yourself. I thought about the visceral way in which the threat of coercion is always be present in the lives of some people, and how they have to take into account in everything they do. I also thought of the way the bullies get constant sadistic pleasure out of it and a regular infusion of extra money. Coercion is near.”
I like this, it was what I was looking for in a discussion board.
Question, do you think this short-term coercion is a common mechanistic used in our society? I would argue that most of the coercion you see in organized societies is used to force coordination (aka long-term)
(guess I have to wait 6 minutes to submit this..)
I agree with jimrandomh’s assessment that “coercion” is too broad and vague of a term. There are many kinds of coercion which use many different mechanisms ranging from physical violence to forceful persuasion and emotional appeals. There’s the physical bullying kind of coercion, there’s coercion by threat of losing social approval, there’s being at work and being told by your boss to do something you don’t like, there’s a parent telling their kid to go to bed or else, there’s a lover trying to guilt their partner into giving them sex...
And “short-term” versus “long-term” isn’t very well defined, either. (What about medium-term?) It’s a bit like asking, “what do you think is more common, thinking for a short- or long-term purpose”?
I’m also not sure that “short-term” and “long-term” are a good way of classifying things into near and far. For instance, ideals about improving and ennobling yourself in school are “far” and part of what motivates one to go to school, and this is a long-term objective. But the actual task of going to school in the present and actually attending the lectures and doing the exercises is “near”. (And effectively studying is difficult because the near and far modes don’t necessarily pull in the same direction.)
I would say that if we did presume that it made sense to classify coercion as either “near” or “far”—which I’m not convinced that it does—then it would make more sense to put it as “near”. Coercion usually isn’t about remote noble ideals, but concrete pragmatic self-benefiting goals. That’s “near”. Even though there may often be a high temporal distance, the one doing the coercion can often see the progress being made towards the ultimate goal in the here and now.