Lakewood's "Moral Taste Buds"

[Kenneth Warren]

Jonathan Haidt, an associate professor in the social psychology area of the department of psychology at the University of Virginia, offers an interesting perspective on the evolution of moral intuition in human communities.

He writes “Our minds evolved to have five moral, “taste buds."

[ryan costa]

Adam Smith theorized that morality is formed by human judgement.

Too much legaleze and formality prevents people from using judgement. Professional organizations and political parties are as much a government as the one we pay taxes to and vote for. Promotion within them requires suspending a portion of capacity for analytical thought.

the reverse-effectiveness trend is nearly always consistent with the advancing of many professions: lawyers, teachers, local law enforcement, administrators, BAEs, etc all are much more highly "trained" today than before. To escape the outcomes of this, it is attractive to move into as insulated a subdivision as possible. Our freedom isn't an absence of government: it is an abuandance of empty space.

We've replaced the moral society with the regimented society: that is why it is probably necessary to have a drinking age of 21 in this country. Most of the Americans I knew under 21 who drank were idiots.

[Joan Roberts]

Are there issues activating hives in Lakewood?

Kenneth Warren

It depends on which Lakewood you're talking about.

If you're talking to the warm, dry, safe, and well-fed Lakewood that most of us here (myself included) belong to, our "hives" can be raised by Crocker Park, the Beck Center, the Dollar Tree, parking, architecturally-suitable brick, the Hall House, Goths skaters, bicycle paths, citywide WifI, etc.

To others, it might be those familiar hives raised by landlords who won't fix the damn light, the couple who get drunk and duke it out every night downstairs, predatory lenders, the long waits in the LH ER, the "friends" your kid met at school who you're not quite sure about, the "friends" you KNOW you don't approve of, that damn thumping car stereo at 3 am., why that job is moving because $8/hr "isn't competitive", why the ex-BF won't respect the TRO,. +etc. etc.

Lakewood is funny. It's not the Bronx or even Cudell. You don't see it driving down the street necessarily, not even at 2 a.m. The "hives" are covered by layers of cloth and vinyl siding.

It sounds like I'm accusing many of us (and me) on focusing on the bourgeois and trivial concerns of a decadent society.

That's not true, I care about some of these issues, too. Quite passionately, in some cases. So I'm scolding myself more than anyone else.

But if there's any measure of "morality" in my mind, it's the age-old charge to "comfort the afflicted an afflict the comfortable."

I'm not there. Not even 20% there. Just pedaling the bike uphill and trying to get it right.

[Kenneth Warren]

Ms. Roberts:

Thank you for your playful and thoughtful post. You capture a broad sense of Lakewood “hives"

[Joan Roberts]

A lot to respond to here, but one thing you wrote did really stick out:

[quote]You capture a sense of social chaos that disrupts any complacencies about "billiard table" here: “the couple who get drunk and duke it out every night downstairs, predatory lenders, the long waits in the LH ER, the "friends" your kid met at school who you're not quite sure about, the "friends" you KNOW you don't approve of, that damn thumping car stereo at 3 am.â€Â

[Jim O'Bryan]

Some people are only vaguely aware they actually live in Lakewood, a separate city as opposed to a Cleveland neighborhood. For others, Lakewood was the most inexpensive place to live on the West Side that didn't involve Cleveland schools. Lakewood, again, represents a marriage of convenience. (which goes back to the "good enough for now" comment)

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Witness the whole Section 8 flap, where the NIMBY voices are in full throat Yet where's the morality of someone on Edgewater lecturing another person on Beach about "tolerance"? The term "limousine liberal" easily comes to mind.

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And what does any of it have to do with Crocker Park?

Joan


Three quick thoughts.

1) Shouldn't we work harder than to define the brand, then help get information out about it, Lakewood, and all of the programs Lakewood has to help where needed. Lakewood has strong networks and neighborhoods, something you point out is not as full in the burbs. the Family Room, the library, the schools, the LOGFSN, the almost 50% back for building repairs, etc, might slow down the spin in the minds of some people that they can start to focus on problems instead of being out of control.

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Section 8 NIMBY, I think everyone was indicating, "Our Fair Share, not NIMBY."

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It would seem that Crocker Park has declared War on Lakewood, and other suburbs. While they want us to shop there Stark has more than once inserted himself deep into Lakewood life and business. Once to stop/slow the Westend, the other to steal away in the night the Beck Center. Who knows what else?

I thought long and hard about your comments this weekend while working on someone else's boat. In the end, this is Lakewood, and the Lakewood Observer I am not sure how many flowery kind words can expected to be put out for Crocker Park, Westlake, Bay, etc.

Just some random thoughts.


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[Jeff Endress]

Some people are only vaguely aware they actually live in Lakewood, a separate city as opposed to a Cleveland neighborhood

Really? That is a surprising fact, if factual.

[Kenneth Warren]

Ms. Roberts:

Thank you for another bright extension of your take on this material.

While you say “it's personal, as opposed to societal,"

[Joan Roberts]

Three quick thoughts.

1) Shouldn't we work harder than to define the brand, then help get information out about it, Lakewood, and all of the programs Lakewood has to help where needed. Lakewood has strong networks and neighborhoods, something you point out is not as full in the burbs. the Family Room, the library, the schools, the LOGFSN, the almost 50% back for building repairs, etc, might slow down the spin in the minds of some people that they can start to focus on problems instead of being out of control.

-----

Section 8 NIMBY, I think everyone was indicating, "Our Fair Share, not NIMBY."

---

It would seem that Crocker Park has declared War on Lakewood, and other suburbs. While they want us to shop there Stark has more than once inserted himself deep into Lakewood life and business. Once to stop/slow the Westend, the other to steal away in the night the Beck Center. Who knows what else?

I thought long and hard about your comments this weekend while working on someone else's boat. In the end, this is Lakewood, and the Lakewood Observer I am not sure how many flowery kind words can expected to be put out for Crocker Park, Westlake, Bay, etc.

Just some random thoughts.


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And actually, I agree with all of them.

My point in response to Mr. Warren is that you can't really have a full or satisfying conversation about Lakewood or its future without acknowledging that there are a good many "lives in chaos (or at least some disarray)" out there.

People leave Lakewood not for the shopping at Crocker Park but in at least some cases to avoid living next door to those lives. That's a reality and a problem. Some might say, Lakewood's BIGGEST problem.

You're correct that as a community, Lakewood has a better-than-most support network. That's one of the things that makes me proud to live here.

As for the NIMBY thing, EVERYONE plays that game. Lakewood's no better or worse on that score than a million other places.

And I don't expect anyone to say flowerly things about Westlake or Bay. I understand that's not the point of the endeavor.

To Mr. Endress.

I can't give you a percentage, and I didn't say it's a large one. But I'd bet you 10 bucks that if you knocked on some apartment doors in some areas of Lakewood and asked who the mayor was, at least a few would say "Frank Jackson"

Or "Mike White"

Some folks just don't pay a lot of attention to things like that.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Joan

I do believe we are on the same page on this. Not that we have to be. Differences of opinions and conversation is how people learn and teach. I fear not enough has gone on in the past. While most of us remember a grand past of Lakewood neighborhoods hanging together, the current reality would be different I am sure. The Devil Dogs we would jump through hoops for as a child are now nasty dry chocolate things that cannot be swallowed.

There is no doubt that Lakewood has its issues. One of the reason so many of us do not jump in is that we are working on them. At least working on the white paper. Let's shine a little light on the Observer right now.

If you look the advisory board is one of the most energetic groups in Lakewood, on their own. We had talked many times and worked together on various issues together and against each other. Together we knew none of us had all the answers and if we built Jim OB's Utopia 99.9% of Lakewood would head for the flatlands. So how do we address Lakewood's needs in a fun, low key effort, way that respects both opinions and time banks. When we stumble on a possible solution, how is the word gotten out to the masses? This is why the paper stays a-political. This is why our Mission Statements talks about helping Lakewoodites understand Lakewood better than any city ever knew itself.

The Lakewood Observer - Observation Deck was built and designed for many reasons. The top three would be I believe 1) Open honest discussion. 2) Vetting and gathering of ideas 3) Build Community awareness and in that the "brand" emerges.

The hard copy was created to get that snapshot into the hands of as many Lakewoodites as we can.

Right now the Visionary Alignment for Lakewood is working on defining, building, and marketing the Lakewood Brand. As you yourself point out we can not manufacture a "brand" that is what Crocker Park did. It is easy to do that with no history. Lakewood has a rich history we cannot not and should not ignore.

What excites me is that the LO Project is way ahead of what we ever dreamed of. But far short of where we all know it can go. What energizes me is what many outside of Lakewood are seeing in this effort.


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[Jeff Endress]

To Mr. Endress.

I can't give you a percentage, and I didn't say it's a large one. But I'd bet you 10 bucks that if you knocked on some apartment doors in some areas of Lakewood and asked who the mayor was, at least a few would say "Frank Jackson"

Or "Mike White"

Some folks just don't pay a lot of attention to things like that.

And those same people might tell you that the President of the United States is Clinton (or Truman), their Congressman Tom George and their Senator Bob Taft....

And I'll take your bet that they all know their zip code is 44107. Not that this is really an issue.

I agree that we see some flight away from actual or percieved chaos. Some people move because they don't like living next door to "those kind of people", only to find that "those kind of people" are everywhere. The ol' grass is greener viewpoint. I don't think you can ever get away from that mind set, in its entirety.

Jeff

[Joan Roberts]

. Some people move because they don't like living next door to "those kind of people", only to find that "those kind of people" are everywhere. The ol' grass is greener viewpoint. I don't think you can ever get away from that mind set, in its entirety.

Jeff

True enough.

However, when "those kind of people" represent a big enough chunk of the population, the generality breaks down. When a community like Lakewood has a third of its school kids qualifying for free or reduced lunches, the percentage of single-parent families, the number of DV cases, it's difficult to wave away with "the grass is always greener"

I guess that's what I was trying to get across. Westlake and Bay are far different places from Lakewood, and that phrase connotes a mixed blessing. Which lends the Observer and its board to opportunities to be agents for change (although I would never be so presumptuous as to expect a Website and newsweekly to solve a community's problems).

Another point to remember is that the process of being, becoming, or changing "those kind of people" isn't always a linear one. It's more than possible, I've found, to careen between two worlds, between stability and respectability and chaos and disarray. And back again.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Which lends the Observer and its board to opportunities to be agents for change (although I would never be so presumptuous as to expect a Website and newsweekly to solve a community's problems).

Joan

We also are not so presumptuous as to think we can solve all of the community's problems. But some are more easily addressed from outside of city hall. Some are exploring what could end up being a deadend, so open a whole new stream of thought.




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[Stephen Calhoun]

"Vague Awareness" dovetails with the elaboration of identity and purposefulness and so it inhabits a continuum for which highly activated engagement is evidence of a much more focused awareness.

Surely many live in Lakewood and would report that it is merely the place they happen to live in.

This said, I have elaborated knotty musings in the Thought Puddle.
Lakewood Observer Observation Deck Forum Index -> Civic Intelligence
-> We are Precogs. (Take your machete with you.)

There's much in this thread stuck to the middle of the target. Gracias



Dr.P

[Jim O'Bryan]

From 2006, good discussion on Lakewood Branding.



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