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  %FAULT BLAME RESPONSIBLE IMPERFECT MISTAKE PUNISH 890930

     The  integrity of a culture and its  members  depends
greatly upon the attitudes present about imperfections and
how members should respond to imperfections.

     Mistakes  often lead to imperfections;  but  not  all
imperfections are caused by mistakes.

     Often  people feel that there should be payment  made
to  compensate for mistakes;  i.e.,  the person who made a
mistake  should pay for the mistake through some  form  of
compensation.   The payment may be made by correcting  the
consequences  of  the  mistakes,   monetary  compensation,
suffering some form of punishment, etc.

     If  payment  must  be made for every  mistake  it  is
important  to  identify  who  is  responsible  for   every
mistake;  and if it is impossible to find the  responsible
person, a sacrificial lamb must be found.

     If every imperfection is regarded as the result of  a
mistake, and if payment must be made for every mistake, it
is  important  to  identify who is responsible  for  every
imperfection.    In  a  society  which  is  striving   for
unreasonable perfection such attitudes lead to much stress
and distress.

     Perfectionists   find   it  impossible   to   achieve
perfection  because imperfections are differences  between
standards  and  realities.  Imperfections are  created  by
setting  standards  which  do not  correspond  to  present
realities.   If  standards are achieved and there  are  no
imperfections in terms of present standards, imperfections
are created by raising standards. Perfectionists can never
reach  perfection  because they are always  raising  their
standards.

     A culture is in for perpetual stress and distress  if
its   members   are   perfectionists  who   believe   that
imperfections  are the results of mistakes,  and that  for
every  mistake it is important to find who is  responsible
for  the  mistake,   and that person should  pay  for  the
mistake.

     The  culture  will disintegrate and its members  will
disintegrate  if  the  prescribed punishment  for  serious
mistakes is excommunication;  i.e.,  the disintegration of
dialogue involving the person(s) identified as responsible
for the "discovered" imperfection.

     The integrity of  a culture  and  its members depends
greatly upon the attitudes present about imperfections and
how  members  should respond to  imperfections.   This  is
especially  so if the imperfection is a lack of  integrity
in  the  ideals and values which lead the members  of  the
community the think, feel, and behave as they do.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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