Live and Let Live
Live and Let Live
This chapter looks at how, in mistrust-creating situations where chronic conditions of disorder, mayhem, and organized violence befoul encounters among neighbors, the democracy of everyday life is tested more severely. Privacy—understood first and simply as protecting oneself from intrusive authorities and from one another—is the felt necessity that makes live and let live a moral imperative. Live and let live enjoins reticence—refusing to broadcast or report what one knows when revelation would have potentially disturbing, even life-altering consequences for his/her neighbors. Live and let live also encourages a characteristic demeanor and form of conduct signaling recognition of mutual vulnerability. Live and let live is the essential “safety net” element of the democracy of everyday life.
Keywords: neighbors, everyday life, democracy, disorder, organized violence, mutual vulnerability
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