Social Productivity

Others,

After Locke had laid out his case against traditional revelation (the metaphysics of destruction), he proposed an alternative in the form of the metaphysics for production.

He argued that reason is "natural revelation." The "fountain of all knowledge" communicates to human being that portion of truth that has been placed within the reach of our natural faculties.

Revelation is "natural reason enlarged by a new set of discoveries communicated by God." 

He set up a dynamic that encouraged progression in the interactive relations between reason and revelation. This argument established the ground for the English bill of rights as the means by which law was to be interpreted.

Law would no longer be a force by which the rule of majority authority as a manifestation of the "divine right of kings" would be abused to destroy dissidents. The rule of law is to be used in accordance with the design of nature according to nature's God.

The purpose of the law is to correct criminal behavior. It is not to destroy those who are accused of crime. The death penalty had been used to kill people based on membership in religion or membership in a social group. Torture was used to punish people on the same basis.

Due process in law is not aimed at obtaining conviction based on the social status of the accuser (sensationalism). The elimination of cruelty by its immediate reduction was essential to establishing the rule of law as a force for fairness and equity. While there are a number of provisions in the bill, the one against cruel punishment was the most significant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689

Read the story and watch the video of the electro-shock therapy being applied to “correct” aggressive behavior at the Rotenberg School.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/video-child-being-shocked-rotenberg-school

It would be nice if we could say that the English bill of rights had eliminated injustice in the world. It has not.  Torture is not correction even if it “works.”  I worked with people who had been diagnosed with disabilities, mental illness and brain trauma. Baseline behaviors were observed and documented. Incentives were provided for productive behaviors. Progress was documented and encouraged.

Aversive procedures were not used. Electro-shock “therapy” was not entertained as a course of action except in cases of extreme depression. The electrical currents were being considered as a form of stimulation. Even this was viewed with skepticism as a bridge to torture.

Therapy was used to encourage personal development and build community. It was working. The therapeutic procedures were rejected for Republican “spending cuts.” The electro-shock treatment displayed in the video at the Judge Rotenberg Center is being advocated as scientific and affordable. It is not therapy. It is not education. It is torture.

The bill of rights has established the ground rules for the promotion of justice and the elimination of cruelty. It is the metaphysics for productivity, productively representative government included.

The long standing complaint against western decadence has implied the criticism of the bill of rights. People without the bill were (and are) immersed in the belief that cruelty is necessary for law and order. This belief is the "traditional revelation" to which John Locke had alluded. It is the metaphysics of destruction that had been used by kingdoms and empires to justify expansion. It is the belief that continues to do the most damage to the progression of justice in civilization.

Reason and revelation interpret the law with respect to human rights. Any modification of the bill of rights needs to be based on liberty and justice for all.  Productivity with respect for self-sufficiency is the key to independence in relation to identity.

Reason and revelation look at the world from the inside.
Linkin Park – From the Inside
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLHpvjrFpe0&feature=relmfu

There is so much going on outside one’s self that the rejection of motivations to destroy others is a regular part of filtering external stimuli. The imperative to love others requires the rejection of impulses towards cruelty and destruction.

Steve K.