We are a family?

Coming to the end of semester, I am supposed to be free. But this is not true. Apart from marking the papers and preparing for the new semester, I have to go to Beijing and Taipei for some days. Furthermore, I have to start to write my paper for Denmark's conference, and a proposal for QEF fund. Workload is still very heavy.

Recently, I have repeatedly heard something like that 'we are a family, and therefore, we should not fight with one another. We should have trust.' There is nothing wrong of such kind of saying, but what a family is. If it is talking about a family with blood tie, I may have less question about it although I am aware of that relationships in a family with blood tie is not always admirable. However, if a family is used metaphorically and is referred to a nation, a company or an institution, I have great reservation. In a family with blood tie, I may learn to forgive, but this may not be possible in a family understood as a nation or company. Forgiveness in a social context has to be linked with justice. In a family with blood tie, we can identify who the parents are, but this is hard in a social context. Does it mean that the governor is the parent or the boss is the parent? Therefore, the model of mutual respect in terms of equality and fairness is more appropriate than the model of respecting the parent, for the latter may easily be turned to support the heirarchical structure in a nation.

I do wish that our nation, company and institution is a family, but I have to be realistic. Hence, I take justice as a prior, and it is justice that can enhance trust. But in a family with blood tie, forgiveness is always possible, for trust makes it possible.