"For a man to take something from his neighbour and to profit by his neighbour's loss is more contrary to nature than is death or poverty or pain or anything else that can affect either our person or our property."
-Cicero (Loeb Classical Library Reader; "Duty to one's neighbour"; pg. 133)
The value of neighbours and community was quite prevalent in Ancient Greece. Parents taught their children to respect, defend, and support their neighbours in order to receive the same treatment in return. This was because of a sense of community in Greek culture; a result of the explosion of city states. In modern day society we generally don't care about community; with the exception of small towns or villages. This lack of togetherness or community pride is the result of the ongoing fight for individual rights. Every person wants the choice to live their life unbounded by an obligation to the state or any organization for that matter. It is commendable that we have reached the point where this right is a reality, unfortunately community was lost along the way.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
1 comment:
Comments from individuals other than registered authors are most welcome. Your comments, however, are moderated by the site administrator. We reserve the right to reject comments we deem inappropriate or irrelevant. Thanks for your interest in The Great Conversation blogspot.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with Fraser in that our sense of community has long faded since the Greeks' example. Perhaps it's because we lack a sense of common interest that the Greeks had. My family keeps good terms with our next-door neighbor by bringing in their recycling bin for them while doing our own on a windy day. On the other side, our other neighbors are constantly parking in front of our house and has been known to forget that their dog is roaming the street outside. This is disrespectful and therefore, in return we don't do anything for them. This isn't anything like the what we believe the Greeks had done for each other. Therefore it exemplifies the difference between our society and theirs.
ReplyDelete