civil society - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

By CHRISTINE PORATHJUNE 19, 2015

MEAN bosses could have killed my father. I vividly recall walking into a hospital room outside of Cleveland to see my strong, athletic dad lying with electrodes strapped to his bare chest. What put him there? I believe it was work-related stress. For years he endured two uncivil bosses.

Rudeness and bad behavior have all grown over the last decades, particularly at work. For nearly 20 years I’ve been studying, consulting and collaborating with organizations around the world to learn more about thecosts of this incivility. How we treat one another at work matters. Insensitive interactions have a way of whittling away at people’s health, performance and souls.

Robert M. Sapolsky, a Stanford professor and the author of “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” argues that when people experience intermittent stressors like incivility for too long or too often, their immune systems pay the price. We also may experience major health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and ulcers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/opinion/sunday/is-your-boss-mean.html?_r=0

How to think as a civil society

JANUARY 2, 2015

To the Editor:

According to the dictionary, “civility” means being polite and courteous.

So, really, most everything we know about acting polite and courteous we learned in kindergarten, so to speak, as kids learning how to get along in school and entering the adult world.

In England in the House of Commons, known for its loud unrestrained behavior, recommendations to enforce civility were defeated last year and in years past.

Why? Members of the House believe that uninhibited speech helps to ensure the continuation of a flourishing democracy because it encourages the free expression of ideas.

Yet their society has a much lower incidence of violent crime.

Are we to expand the definition of civility to include illegal acts, or are we going to limit civility to mean acting polite and courteous?

And how about our town meetings? How restrained do we want members of the public to be in their speech?

What is the relationship between civility and a civilized society?

These are questions we have to ask ourselves as we think about civility.

Diane Palacios

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-how-to-think-as-a-civil-society-1.1184808