Many thought systems in the world are dualistic; however dualities are not all   
   created equal. There are dualities that are value-neutral, in which each side   
   of the duality is a part of reality and is capable of outcomes good, bad and   
   indifferent. In    
   addition, there are dualities that are valued, in which one side is good and   
   the other is bad. And whereas the thinking of Eastern philosophy concerns with   
   achieving balance among the non-valued dualities - and the thinking of Taoism   
   is concerned with    
   seeing past the dualities to the nondual reality - a thinking more pertinent   
   to the world would be concerned instead with maximizing the positive outcomes   
   for each side of the non-valued duality and for their interaction, while   
   minimizing the negative    
   effects of both. Whereas in approaching valued dualities, a totally different   
   methodology is needed.    
      
      
   The non-valued dualities - such as male and female, nature and civilization,   
   business and labor, private sector and public sector, thinking and feeling,   
   self-interest and altruism - are made value-neutral by the fact that they both   
   exist, not by moral    
   choice based on values, but simply as parts of reality. Not existing by moral   
   choice, they have zero correlation with moral judgment. Zero correlation with   
   moral judgment means: Tendency toward good; tendency toward bad; and tendency   
   toward a mix; will    
   be found in each side of the duality. And the process of maximizing the   
   positive outcomes and minimizing the negative outcomes will consist of - each   
   side checking the other's harmful tendencies; leaving each other alone where   
   the direction is positive;    
   and collaborating with each other when such is beneficial.    
      
   The non-valued dualities can interact in these ways:    
      
   - One can impact the other positively;    
   - One can impact the other negatively;    
      
   - One can impact the other in a mixed or value-neutral manner;   
   - One can operate independently of the other toward either positive, negative,   
   mixed or value-neutral outcomes;    
      
   - The two can collaborate in a manner positively affecting the rest of the   
   world;    
      
   - The two can collaborate affecting the rest of the world in a mixed or   
   value-neutral manner;   
      
   - The two can collaborate affecting the rest of the world in a negative   
   manner.    
      
      
   A viable approach toward maximizing the beneficial outcomes and minimizing the   
   negative outcomes will see all these potentials and work to enhance the   
   positive ones and minimize the negative ones.    
      
   In addition to non-valued dualities such as the preceding, there is also such   
   a thing as valued dualities. Dualities such as health and disease, knowledge   
   and ignorance, good and evil, are neither equal nor are they of equal value.   
   In valued dualities,    
   one is good and the other is bad; and the benefit comes from maximizing the   
   good side and minimizing the bad side. One of the greatest errors one can   
   commit is to confuse non-valued dualities with valued dualities and to claim   
   value-neutral duality like "   
   man and woman" to be comparable to a valued duality such as "good and evil."   
   There is no room for this error, as it results in horrible wrong - either that   
   error be of claiming men good and women bad, or of claiming good and evil to   
   be equal in value. In    
   both cases a terrible error is committed, and pursuant it a great wrong is   
   done. The non-valued dualities are only similar to valued dualities in their   
   dualism. Beyond that, similarity between them ends.    
      
   This error has been taken to variously disastrous ends by various forces in   
   society. Whether misogynists claiming men to be good and women to be evil,   
   Republicans claiming private sector to be good and public sector to be evil,   
   socialists claiming    
   workers to be good and business to be evil, rationalists claiming reason to be   
   good and feelings to be evil, or groups claiming civilization to be good and   
   nature to be evil, nature to be good and technology to be evil, spirit to be   
   good and physicality    
   to be evil, self-interest to be good and collective interest to be evil, or   
   collective interest to be good and self-interest to be evil, in all cases a   
   giant error is committed and a great wrong is done.    
      
   All of the above-mentioned forces are value-neutral. They are all capable of   
   action good, bad, indifferent or a mix. Claiming one to be good and the other   
   to be evil results in wrongs condoned and institutionalized on the part of the   
   first side of the    
   duality, and a brutal and hideous oppression against the second side,   
   including its capacity to produce positive effects. And while we see many   
   movements on the part of the second side in either of these (and many other)   
   dualities claiming their side to    
   be good and the first side to be evil, the truth of the matter is that neither   
   side is either good or evil. Both are value-neutral; both are capable of   
   right, wrong, and indifferent.    
      
   The valued-duality approach, when applied to non-valued dualities, is   
   therefore disastrous. This is the kind of thinking that leads to creation of   
   ever-growing hostilities, ever-growing abuses, and ever-growing waste of   
   potential. The correct approach to    
   dealing with non-valued dualities is to see their capacities - to destructive   
   outcomes; to neutral outcomes; and to beneficial outcomes. And then to -   
   reduce the first; leave alone the second; and encourage the third where   
   possible. All are there; all    
   are legitimate; all are capable of both positive and negative outcomes. The   
   goal in all cases is to maximize the value for each and of benefits of both   
   while minimizing the negative effects.    
      
   The public sector and private sector are both there because they serve demand   
   - the first at the poll booth, the second in the marketplace. Business and   
   labor are two components of the production process. Nature and civilization   
   are both parts of the    
   world - the first of the world as not created by human being; the second of   
   the world as created by human beings. As for self-interest and h   
   manity-interest, a being that exists both as individual self and as part of   
   its species will have natural    
   inclinations toward benefit of both, with different levels, in different   
   people, and at different times in their lives. In all cases, we see non-valued   
   dualities that can either injure each other, leave each other alone, or work   
   together. And in all    
   cases, the interaction must be aimed at reducing the negative effects and   
   maximizing the positive ones.    
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)