
social pathogens – behaviours that damage or destroy social relationships; coercion, deceit, and disloyalty or betrayal
social pathology – the violation of liberty or property in society, between members of a Society
coercion – the threat or physical aggression used to do harm
deceit – to hide a fact that affects the liberty or property of a person
disloyalty or betrayal – the violation of trust; failure to deliver what is owed in a free reciprocal agreement; to arbitrarily forgo an obligation
crime – the violation of liberty or property; the acquisition or violation of property without the free consent of the owner
fraud – the act of acquiring an advantage or property through deceit or betrayal of trust
exploitation – the systematic violation of property
oppression – the systematic violation of liberty
CONTEXT FOR THE TERMS
What is damaging to a relationship between two individuals is damaging to Society because Society is the total network of fruitful relationships. The threat or harm that one person does to another injures trust and society, besides causing irreparable damages, killing, and impoverishing. That is why they are named social pathologies.
Coercion is the threat or force used against a person to do harm. Deceit can achieve the same thing when it conceals the intention or action of the aggressor; the intended victims cannot defend what is theirs.
The physical damage caused by harm, coercion, or deceit is relatively easy to detect; the damage to trust, to reciprocity, and to society isn’t. That damage can’t be seen or touched. It is almost impossible to measure.
How do you gauge the loss of trust? How do you calculate the number of relationships not undertaken for that lack of trust and the loss of benefits to everyone caused by the lack of reciprocity, cooperation, and solidarity?
Social pathologies have many variants. The most dangerous ones, the ones that can cause irreparable damage, kill, and impoverish, are the ones prohibited by Law.
Photograph: Arno Senoner en Unsplash.
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