Bear Ribs
Well-known member
This thread is to discuss primary motivations in a society's social structure. A culture in general will always have all three of these primary motivations mixed in, but typically one is far more dominant than the other two. The United States in particular is in an interesting position in that the right half of the political divide uses one primary motivation, while the left uses the other two, leading to a lot of talking past each other and a breakdown of communications.
In general, there are three "motivation" structures that moral frameworks use to explain the primary motivations of the populace:
Historically western cultures work of off guilt/righteousness. The Bible in particular has lessons on doing good in secret rather than receiving recognition, on the secret person of the heart being what really matters, and honor is ascribed to people who have performed good deeds without seeking a reward.
One can find guilt/righteousness in the lore and stories, it's common for a person in fables or fairy tales to receive a punishment for sins they thought were hidden but were really seen, either by a deity or another powerful being such as a fairy, and equally to be rewarded for good deeds they did without thought, such as Androcles Lion. Even in the case where doing good deeds leads to death, it generally turns out well in the afterlife. A common theme is for a person to do what is right out of the goodness of their heart, without thinking of a reward, only for their good attitude to pay off handsomely later.
Guilt/Righteousness cultures are individualist. They tend to emphasize personal responsibility and push people to personal bests and to push themselves. Questioning authority is considered a good thing.
It can be difficult for guilt/righteousness culture to understand an honor/shame culture. F'rex in Japanese porn, there is a common plot of a married woman being blackmailed by a scumbag who managed to sneak a picture of her, and threatens to release it unless she performs for him. This makes little sense in a guilt/righteousness culture as the woman hasn't done anything wrong, and society would come down hard on the blackmailer. In an Honor/Shame culture, however, being vulnerable to blackmail is a serious failure in itself and obeying a blackmailer in secret, thus keeping honor intact, is more desirable than being shamed by the public when the blackmail is released. One can also see this culture clash in Avatar: The Last Airbender where Zuko's honor is taken by his father and he seeks to garner approval so it can be restored. At the end, Iroh tells him he's restored his own honor by doing the right thing and essentially pushes Zuko into accepting guilt/righteousness as his moral framework rather than honor/shame.
Honor/Shame cultures are collectivist. People are pushed into stronger community ties and to follow and obey the consensus. They tend to work well with democracies and have the lowest levels of violence and internal warfare. Questioning authority is generally considered shameful, though exposing the shameful actions of an authority is not.
Most fear/power cultures have difficulty with stability and have frequent revolutions, as the culture teaches that once one has power, they should use it to punish anyone weaker who disobeys, rule by the strongest and most brutal is the norm. Questioning authority tends to get one killed and is never a good thing, as there is no misdeeds by the authority that can be exposed about the authority that will offset the fact that they have the power to punish those who question them.
In modern US society, the right is primarily guilt/righteousness while the left is primarily honor/shame with a small but increasing emphasis on fear/power. This has led to a lot of political divides and an inability for the right and left to easily understand where the other is coming from in their actions.
Some anthropologists will identify other motivations, such as anxiety-calm but these can usually be folded into the existing three frameworks and a triangular chart is usually the simplest to both use and understand.
I feel that these cultural trappings are actually more important to understanding how a society works than its political structure. A fear/power culture will act the same way whether they are allowed to vote or not, and a shame/honor culture will have a different set of norms even if their political structure is identical to the fear/power nation. Virtually all fear/power societies will have constant low-level wars, high levels of violence, and political leaders using force against their rivals, regardless of whether they are democratic, communist, or dictatorial. Contrarily, shame/honor cultures tend towards collectivism and a stable but relatively intrusive and controlling government no matter what kind of political structure they have. In between, guilt/righteousness culture tends to push towards a relatively unstable government with different factions and especially individual leaders constantly competing with one another, but avoiding taking excessively forceful measures that would cause guilt.
At the same time, these cultures will interact and modify their own political structures to fit their moral framework. The United States' efforts to introduce democracy to various regions are prone to failure because they do not modify the social structure to match, the biggest successes such as Germany and Japan are areas where the moral framework was also torn down and replaced. Attempts to force western democracy into fear/power cultures such as Iraq and Afghanistan tend to fold like wet cardboard the moment the US pulls out its soldiers because western democracy is not compatible with the local moral framework. One cannot force democracy on a fear/power culture because ten seconds after being elected into a position of power, the person's own morals will instruct them to start using fear and power to control all they can.
In general, there are three "motivation" structures that moral frameworks use to explain the primary motivations of the populace:
- Guilt/Righteousness
Historically western cultures work of off guilt/righteousness. The Bible in particular has lessons on doing good in secret rather than receiving recognition, on the secret person of the heart being what really matters, and honor is ascribed to people who have performed good deeds without seeking a reward.
One can find guilt/righteousness in the lore and stories, it's common for a person in fables or fairy tales to receive a punishment for sins they thought were hidden but were really seen, either by a deity or another powerful being such as a fairy, and equally to be rewarded for good deeds they did without thought, such as Androcles Lion. Even in the case where doing good deeds leads to death, it generally turns out well in the afterlife. A common theme is for a person to do what is right out of the goodness of their heart, without thinking of a reward, only for their good attitude to pay off handsomely later.
Guilt/Righteousness cultures are individualist. They tend to emphasize personal responsibility and push people to personal bests and to push themselves. Questioning authority is considered a good thing.
- Honor/Shame
It can be difficult for guilt/righteousness culture to understand an honor/shame culture. F'rex in Japanese porn, there is a common plot of a married woman being blackmailed by a scumbag who managed to sneak a picture of her, and threatens to release it unless she performs for him. This makes little sense in a guilt/righteousness culture as the woman hasn't done anything wrong, and society would come down hard on the blackmailer. In an Honor/Shame culture, however, being vulnerable to blackmail is a serious failure in itself and obeying a blackmailer in secret, thus keeping honor intact, is more desirable than being shamed by the public when the blackmail is released. One can also see this culture clash in Avatar: The Last Airbender where Zuko's honor is taken by his father and he seeks to garner approval so it can be restored. At the end, Iroh tells him he's restored his own honor by doing the right thing and essentially pushes Zuko into accepting guilt/righteousness as his moral framework rather than honor/shame.
Honor/Shame cultures are collectivist. People are pushed into stronger community ties and to follow and obey the consensus. They tend to work well with democracies and have the lowest levels of violence and internal warfare. Questioning authority is generally considered shameful, though exposing the shameful actions of an authority is not.
- Fear/Power
Most fear/power cultures have difficulty with stability and have frequent revolutions, as the culture teaches that once one has power, they should use it to punish anyone weaker who disobeys, rule by the strongest and most brutal is the norm. Questioning authority tends to get one killed and is never a good thing, as there is no misdeeds by the authority that can be exposed about the authority that will offset the fact that they have the power to punish those who question them.
In modern US society, the right is primarily guilt/righteousness while the left is primarily honor/shame with a small but increasing emphasis on fear/power. This has led to a lot of political divides and an inability for the right and left to easily understand where the other is coming from in their actions.
Some anthropologists will identify other motivations, such as anxiety-calm but these can usually be folded into the existing three frameworks and a triangular chart is usually the simplest to both use and understand.
I feel that these cultural trappings are actually more important to understanding how a society works than its political structure. A fear/power culture will act the same way whether they are allowed to vote or not, and a shame/honor culture will have a different set of norms even if their political structure is identical to the fear/power nation. Virtually all fear/power societies will have constant low-level wars, high levels of violence, and political leaders using force against their rivals, regardless of whether they are democratic, communist, or dictatorial. Contrarily, shame/honor cultures tend towards collectivism and a stable but relatively intrusive and controlling government no matter what kind of political structure they have. In between, guilt/righteousness culture tends to push towards a relatively unstable government with different factions and especially individual leaders constantly competing with one another, but avoiding taking excessively forceful measures that would cause guilt.
At the same time, these cultures will interact and modify their own political structures to fit their moral framework. The United States' efforts to introduce democracy to various regions are prone to failure because they do not modify the social structure to match, the biggest successes such as Germany and Japan are areas where the moral framework was also torn down and replaced. Attempts to force western democracy into fear/power cultures such as Iraq and Afghanistan tend to fold like wet cardboard the moment the US pulls out its soldiers because western democracy is not compatible with the local moral framework. One cannot force democracy on a fear/power culture because ten seconds after being elected into a position of power, the person's own morals will instruct them to start using fear and power to control all they can.