User blog:Phlox/Revolutionary civility

 “Among well-bred people a mutual deference is affected, contempt for others is disguised; authority concealed; attention given to each in his turn; and an easy stream of conversation maintained without vehemence, without interruption, without eagerness.” - David Hume

The odd thing about civility is that it can stand in the way of passionate and dramatic drives towards improving things. The "Japanese problem with innovation" is mostly nonsense, but for cultures that want to nurture the accelerated development found in so called more innovative cultures, the wellspring of change can have a lot to do with encouraging the "rudeness" of pointing out and taking personal action to deal with egregious shortcomings- those SNAFus "Situations normal- all fouled up" that everyone in all cultures are frustrated with on a daily basis. The violence of change is associated with violence in temperament and actions, so progenitors of change tend to run afoul of conventions of civility. It seems to me we can both be civil and revolutionary with new approaches, but it can be a difficult edge to walk. 19:52, 15 July 2009 (UTC)