A life without double standards

[Drifterwood]

This is what I am trying to achieve.

What do you think?

 

[nudeyorker]

I think it's very admirable, however not always possible unless you align yourself with people who have the same principles and you are independently wealthy!

 

[Rubenesque]

Not possible... everyone is riddled with double standards, even if they don't realise it

 

[jeff black]

This is what I am trying to achieve.

What do you think?

How does one acheive it?

 

[Drifterwood]

I disagree. If you align yourself, as in the saying "Birds of a feather flock together", with people who only are programmed to see the world as you do, then you will never see your double standards.

You have to take a step back, as is so often true in life. Unless of course you come from a culture that tells you that you have no reason to question it.

 

[jeff black]

Give me more information.

 

[HazelGod]

This is what I am trying to achieve.

What do you think?

Unlikely, for one.

For another, and I assume your meaning was leveled at society as a whole, why would you want to? Double standards impart a great deal of predictability into the behaviors of the general population.

 

[Principessa]

A life without double standards: This is what I am trying to achieve.

What do you think?

As Nudeyorker said that is admirable, however I think it is highly unlikely. If it makes you feel anybetter I don't think I could do it either. :tongue:

I think it's very admirable, however not always possible unless you align yourself with people who have the same principles and you are independently wealthy!

From what I can gather from his posts, Drifterwood is probably one of the wealthier members on this site. He also chooses his friends and lovers carefully so I would assume the people in his inner circle have similar principles.

 

[Phil Ayesho]

A life without double standards would be sheer hell... the tyranny of the mean.

Double standards are necessary to the concept of a fair society because we are not all equal in ability, opportunity, nor tenacity.

The man in the wheel chair gets a RAMP built at YOUR expense despite the majority being able bodied. He gets a better parking spot...
Different rules apply to him, why? To ameliorate the inequity of his circumstances.

Women and men get treated differently... why? they serve different roles and they have different powers. Women bear only a few children in a short time. Men can father children in the hundreds and for 70 plus years.
Women are sought after for their beauty... men selecting for symmetry, health, and genetic fitness...
Men are selected by women for entirely different attributes... persistence, boldness, confidence, leadership potential, income, popularity...

These basic genetically driven differences give young attractive women power not given to young untested men... and take power from women in their maturity and transfer it to the subset of maturing men who achieved....
That is an inherent double standard that society enacts social double standards to try and equalize...

But we can not eliminate the one without rendering the other an egregious disparity.

Take the progressive tax.
Everyone complains.... everyone gripes about the inherent unfair double standard of levels of taxation... all manner of "fair" tax schemes get proposed... flat taxes, sales tax only....

But Games theory proves indisputably that progressive taxation is overwhelmingly the fairest system of taxation yet devised.


You call out double standard for a gunfight as if it were the villian.

But you have no reasonable basis on which to make that assignation.
All double standards are either inherent in our biology... or created by us to compensate for the inherent unfairness of driven by our biology.

 

[ManlyBanisters]

But see, Phil, I don't think what you are talking about is double standards - not as I define it. Treating people differently based on ability is not double standards, it is different standards. In a basic definition double standard can just mean different treatment but it is more commonly used as a negative term and implies an unjust different treatment. And, knowing Drifter, I have a feeling that it is that narrower definition he's talking about.

What I believe he means (correct me if I am wrong, Drifter) is that he does not want to apply any 'rules' to others that he would not apply to himself. I don't think he is talking about society as a whole but just his own life and the way he leads it.

To answer the OP from the pov of that interpretation, I would say yes, it is possible. It is undoubtedly very difficult though. The main reason I believe it is difficult is because it is so much harder to understand the motivation of others when they do things that I see as unfair. Whereas when I do something that others might see as unfair I am in possession of all the facts, all the background, as to why I made the decision to act that way. The way around this I try to take, and Lord knows I'm imperfect and fuck up often enough, is I try very, very hard not to judge and also to remind myself that I probably do not know the full story.

Edit: And I really don't see what money has to do with it. I don't see why one would have to be 'financially independent' to live a life where you accept that if it is OK for you to do something then it is OK for everybody (or indeed if it is NOT OK for everybody then it's also not OK for yourself).

 

[Principessa]

Edit: And I really don't see what money has to do with it. I don't see why one would have to be 'financially independent' to live a life where you accept that if it is OK for you to do something then it is OK for everybody (or indeed if it is NOT OK for everybody then it's also not OK for yourself).

I wondered what money had to do with it as well. Does a surplus of money allow one the freedom to not judge people? Or is it a filter through which the world is a grim place.

 

[2322]

Oh Christ. Yet another thread I'll have to think about before answering. Damn you.

 

[B_Hickboy]

This is what I am trying to achieve.

What do you think?

Well, that may be fine for you. But it's different for me.

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

This is what I am trying to achieve.

What do you think?

I think you'd have better luck wading thru a pihranna pool with a bloody porkchop pinned to your pecker and living to tell about it.

 

[vince]

I think Manly is right that Drifter was writing about applying rules and standards to others that he would not apply to himself. That is how I have always defined a double standard.

It comes down to the old adage about "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", doesn't it? I doubt that it's possible to live that way 100%, but it's an admirable goal.

I too don't think money has much to do with it. If anything it may make it more difficult. For example, the temptations to satisfy your whims of unneeded material consumption can be harder to resist when you can easily afford them.

 

[vince]

Oh Christ. Yet another thread I'll have to think about before answering. Damn you.

Try to keep it under a thousand words Jason. :tongue:

 

[Not_Punny]

Ah, heck, Drift, you're going to have to cut out the booze. You're just SEEING double.

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There are double standards everywhere. For instance, most California schools and post offices have TWO flags flying (US flag and state flag). Standard is another word for "flag"

Edit: Sorry. I am flippant due to missing sooooo much sleep lately. Thinking would give me a headache!

 

[Mem]

I'm trying to live a life of triple standards.

 

[nudeyorker]

I only mentioned money as a factor for an individual as sometimes our standards are put to the test in the professional arena.
However something that I have considered since I posted; the double standards in government and religion in addition to commerce.

 

[earllogjam]

Self delusions are endless. The only way you can live a life without double standards is if you kill your ego.