CHAT: Dictatorship of the Floritariat, and its auxlangs

Charles wrote:

> alypius wrote:
>
> > So war is caused by misunderstanding??? Well, maybe on rare occasions.  But,
> > I think in most wars both sides understand each other all too well.  (Of
> > course, the public may be deceived by its leaders, but this is another
> > problem.)
>
> The leaders generate wars to benefit a few, and the public
> is propagandized to hate an enemy they don't understand.
> Wars are usually between classes, the causes are economic.
That's one spin on history, certainly.  I myself prefer avoiding
all talk of the interactions of "classes", because classes are by
definition abstractions of individuals, and can only make their
mark on history when the individual members of the classes
(a) believe the classes exist as a distinct subunit of the rest of
society, and (b) those members choose to do something about
being in a class.  I mean, there's a class of "florists of the world",
but unless they somehow combine forces to try to change the world
to make it more ammenable to florists' needs, they aren't going to do
anything.  I don't think you're not going to see a Dictatorship of
the Floritariat anytime soon.  8P

(And besides:  who'd be their premier? Roger the Shrubber?)

> > If peoples who speak the same language have fewer wars between them, it is
> > not because they avoid misunderstanding, but because they have lots of other
> > cultural common ground as well.  ~alypius
>
> Yes, exactly. And by learning an auxlang we can create
> and maintain that common ground. That's the theory;
> I don't wonder why governments won't support it.
Some common ground.  There's a whole lot more ground
you'd need than just language, seeing how little conscious
thought most people have with respect to the language they
speak.

Perhaps we should all take this discussion of auxlanging offlist.
It's pretty offtopic (not that stops anyone from posting stuff,
including me :) ), but more importantly it's the stuff flames are
made of.

======================================
Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

Non cuicumque datum est habere nasum.
It is not given to just anyone to have a nose.
        -- Martial
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