這應是十年前一則在電視的廣告了,它的對象是中產,賣的是位於名校區的一些樓房,大意是說為了下一代設想,快快搬入該樓房。因為住在該區的都是中或上等的社會階層,孩子不會接觸到下層人,可以快樂健康的成長。
原來在廣告商的想像中,所謂中產專業人仕,就是自絕於下層社會的人,孩子接觸到下層人仕,會污染他們的心靈,阻礙他們的成長。中產的特色就是潔廦,成長的 方式就是在被隔離的溫室生長,而專業就是用法律去壟斷某行業,使某社會階層成為世襲,不用接受太大的競爭。這是不是香港中產階級的意識形態反映?
我想到的是,用法律去壟斷某行業,使某社會階層成為世襲,付出的社會代價是減低社會各階級的流動性,間接損害自由經濟。另外,如此的中產階級是逃避了和佔 數量最大的下層接觸,其實不太利於在就業市場競爭,例如就不可能當經理等人事部職位,因為不懂下層的心態和行為;如果要經營生意的話,欠缺對社會各階層的 了解一定是致命毒藥;政治家就更不可能了。就是因為潔廦,而自困於某行業中不思進取,是不是它心目中最理想的中產生活?
2008年5月26日 星期一
The two kind of freedoms
When liberal talks about freedom, they often confuse two kinds of freedom. One kind of freedom is what usually guarantee by law: The freedom from fear, The freedom from deprivation, The freedom from torture, the freedom from religion. However, there is one kind of freedom which many of us ignore because of its nature: It is the freedom to become a better human, the freedom to self-actualize, the freedom to realize one’s potentialities. That is the freedom which Eric Fromm talked about in his books, and is a central tenet of Humanism.
One of disadvantage of Liberalism as compare to Humanism is that it lacks a goal of how to apply the freedom. Liberal only said what the state shouldn’t do, but it seldom said what the state should do to promote the physical and psychological health of its citizen, or at least how should the citizen use the freedom from state for a goal not just better themselves but also benefit the society as a whole. Those liberals have a strong case when conservative is imposing their ideal life into everyone else, but conservative has an upper hand in the sense which it give clear direction to its follower. Humanist could compete with conservative in the merit of the goal of freedom, which liberal can’t.
It appears to me that the major difference between political left and right is on the issue of freedom. For the political right, the left is imposing their positive freedoms onto the society, thus deprive the citizen a choice of not using the freedom positively. For the political left, the right is forcing their negative freedoms onto the society, thus deprive the citizen a choice of using the freedom positively.
One of disadvantage of Liberalism as compare to Humanism is that it lacks a goal of how to apply the freedom. Liberal only said what the state shouldn’t do, but it seldom said what the state should do to promote the physical and psychological health of its citizen, or at least how should the citizen use the freedom from state for a goal not just better themselves but also benefit the society as a whole. Those liberals have a strong case when conservative is imposing their ideal life into everyone else, but conservative has an upper hand in the sense which it give clear direction to its follower. Humanist could compete with conservative in the merit of the goal of freedom, which liberal can’t.
It appears to me that the major difference between political left and right is on the issue of freedom. For the political right, the left is imposing their positive freedoms onto the society, thus deprive the citizen a choice of not using the freedom positively. For the political left, the right is forcing their negative freedoms onto the society, thus deprive the citizen a choice of using the freedom positively.
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