Cesidio Di Luzio
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PROPOSAL
AND PRESENTATION
MOAS
EAR1
0005
A PROPOSAL WHOSE AIM IS
TO DEFINE AND ACTIVATE
A GLOBAL PROJECT
FOR THE SOLUTION OF CURRENT SOCIAL PROBLEMS,
FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING CONDITIONS,
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE,
FOR THE CREATION OF AN ADEQUATE CONSTITUTION
FOR NEW HIGH-TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETIES
(DEVELOPMENT OF
MOAS PROPOSAL EAR1 9708)
ENGLISH VERSION.
Translated into English by F. Yorke
EUROMA
Editrice
Universitaria di Roma – La Goliardica
All rights reserved.
2000 Copyright by
EUROMA – Editrice Universitaria di Roma – La Goliardica
Via Domenico De Dominicis, 15 – 00159 Roma – tel. 06 43587879 – Fax 06
4386292
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The proposal we are making in this document
is intended to contribute
to the constitution of a global project
for the solution of current social problems.
This contribution will be both technical and organizational.
The technical aspect will be outlined in analyses and proposals
for realising the declared aims.
The “MOAS Proposal”
of which this document is the most advanced synthesis,
constitutes the initial technical contribution towards the project.
As regards the organizational aspects,
existing proposals at an international level
will be presented and interrelated,
so as to potentiate this type of project
and determine the best possible conditions
for the diffusion and application of the proposal made here.
The organisation which co-ordinates all these activities
is the Movimento per l’Adeguamento Sociale
(MOAS)
(Movement for Social Adaptation.)
This document
contains the nucleus of the technical contribution
at the time of publication.
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Current social problems
Current social problems
are listed schematically below,
apart from the causes
and other unfavourable situations
that may derive from them:
The present social system annihilates the individual that does not fit
into it,
but is, at the same time, unable to integrate
a large percentage of the population adequately
and probably an even greater percentage in the near future.
This condition is at present defined, reductively, as “unemployment.”
The quality of life, even of those who fit into the system,
is definitely lower than what is possible today.
This is true of the individual, the collectivity and the environment.
It is evident in living conditions,
in the rhythm of work, in the quantity of free time,
in the technical commitments that involve individuals,
in the structural lay-out and architectural appearance of town and
country,
in the quality of buildings,
in the use and maintenance of whatever has been achieved.
The quality of life is an important point
because it influences the technical and psychological conditions of the
individual
and therefore his overall opportunities and his way of relating to
society.
The psychological condition of individuals,
that is to say, their emotional situation, their cultural level, their
capacity for judgement,
their way of interacting with others and reacting to situations,
is a particularly important element
which deeply conditions their potentialities.
The quality of life may thus radically modify the potentialities of
society.
For these reasons, we consider that the fact that the quality of life
Is inferior to that which could be achieved constitutes a social
problem.
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The economic system is eccessively unreliable,
and by now it is quite evident that it cannot guarantee
the stability necessary today.
There may be important changes in the ecology of the environment,
caused by civil and military activities using high technology;
consequently, there are risks for the physical safety of the individual
and for the stability of society.
The international community can be destabilised
and the conditions of local communities damaged
by actions on the part of groups of individuals or social systems.
Constructive relations that could be established with these groups,
and among these groups, may not be achieved.
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Causes of Current
Social Problems.
To put it very synthetically,
(the hypothesis will be expanded later
after the development of the following points)
we may say that
the social problems derive,
not so much from their immediate causes,
as from
excessive competition and cultural intolerance,
scanty interest in man and society,
bad-quality planning
and the existence of highly technological societies
which have appeared for the first time in the history of man
and which require conditions quite contrary to those just described.
A social system based on high technology cannot develop
under these conditions.
They can only cause a regression to the previous social structure,
even after an initial technological evolution has been achieved.
The first three conditions determine some of the social problems
mentioned above.
The presence of these conditions in a technological society
give rise to other problems,
resulting from an initial lack of co-ordination in technological
society,
because the elements necessary for its development are missing.
The social problems described derive from all these causes.
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Causes of current social problems
/Analysis of the phenomena of competition and cultural
intolerance
A dominant culture based on competition and cultural intolerance
may be defined as the culture of prevarication.
A society
dominated by the state of affairs described above
pays little attention to the needs of the individual.
This is characteristic of an excessively competitive society
where the weaker individual is pushed to the wall.
As a result, these cultures are usually considered wrong, dangerous
and terefore persecuted.
Under these circumstances,
most of the energies of individuals
are directed towards the satisfaction of their personal needs
and against other forms of culture, which they see as unacceptable.
This results in a lack of resources available for other kinds of
activity.
The opposite condition
is a society dominated by the conviction
that each individual’s needs must be satisfied
and that different cultures must be understood and tolerated.
This conviction will determine to a great extent all the efforts of the
individual.
Concern for the individual will direct
attention to the social structures connected with the individual.
Thus all the functions and institutions of society,
that is to say, every aspect of the system,
will receive care and attention.
Moreover, this will reduce the necessity to use up energy
for the purpose of satisfying the needs and conflictual impulses
described above
and increase the amount of energy available for other purposes.
This condition may be defined as the culture of collaboration.
The culture of collaboration
allows every individual to be catered for,
diminishes conflict,
pays equal attention to all the aspects of the social system
and frees all the energies available.
It must not, therefore, be considered merely a banal idea,
but, on the contrary, an essential condition
for the realisation of these four advantages.
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During the initial stages of the development of societies,
competition and intolerance of cultural difference
frequently occur and are probably necessary.
In later stages, greater attention is usually paid to individual needs
and social systems develop greater tolerance of cultural differences
while the initial dogmatic tendencies diminish.
This is possibly due to growing awareness of the fruitfulness of
relations
between different groups and to respect for the individual,
as well as to the fact that absolute truth cannot be defined.
It is worth pointing out that
people whose outlook is based on prevarication
cannot easily adapt to a culture of collaboration,
even if it is explained to them,
because there are necessary prerequisites for understanding others
and time and energy must be devoted
to getting rid of previous prejudices.
People with this kind of characteristic outlook
will take a long time to learn and understand.
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Causes of social problems
/Analysis of culture in society and mankind
When individual needs and all the elements of the social system are
catered for,
and energies are no longer inhibited by excessive conflict and
intolerance,
this produces observation, reflection, experimentation and
understanding.
Knowledge is born of understanding.
Knowledge and experience go together.
They provoke a desire for further knowledge
and for the conditions that enable it to spread.
This interest may be defined as the culture of knowledge.
The factors that favour it are:
firstly, society itself,
in as much as it provides the contest
in which activities aimed at the acquisition of knowledge can take
place;
secondly, the human individual, who, as the principal constituent of
society,
cannot be considered apart from it;
thirdly, the above-mentioned culture of collaboration,
the catalyctic element that produces energy,
and provokes interest for the individual and for all the other elements
necessary for developing activities that promote knowledge.
Thus
the creation of conditions that promote knowledge
may be defined as the culture of society and of man
and in this contest,
the culture of collaboration acquires a deeper meaning.
The culture of society and of man is, obviously,
the best condition
for the care and protection of man and of the social system
and consequently, also of the environment.
Furthermore, knowledge engenders capacity.
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Causes of current social problems
/Analysis of social
planning
A society plans and protects its own culture and structure
through a general system of organisation and,
above all, through its system of government.
A system of government can work in different ways,
according to whether or not three conditions are operative.
These are:
the application of the culture of collaboration,
the use of all the resources av