We create wars, watch cities becoming pounded into dust, spawn terrorism and religious extremism, reduce peoples’ lives to ruins and walk away.
No responsibility is accepted.
No solutions for the misery we leave in our wake.
We run a world where a minority have so much they can fly to the stars while the majority are struggling to feed their families.
Our solution: tighten the borders – push them back into the sea.
We’ve taken back control to discover that we are helpless. The solution is cooperation not isolation.
We have to deal with the root causes – wars, inequality, extremism, climate change.
Opher, who is this “we” of which you speak? Have you ever created a war? I doubt it; and I surely haven’t. Do you run the world? I think not. Neither do I.
Opher, the root of all human problems today is politics. And, in particular, the idea of some nebulous “we.” That idea enables those in power to lie, tax people out of existence, feather their own nests and those of their cronies, make wars, cause misery, deny responsibility and all the rest – because they claim they are doing it on behalf of this “we.” Try replacing the first person plural by the third person plural throughout your first five paragraphs! (“They,” of course, representing the political class).
When you say, “The solution is cooperation not isolation,” I’d say “The solution is economics, not politics.” Trade-trade, not raid-raid. On the individual level, as well as between groups of people.
(Disclaimer: I’m in the middle of writing my next philosophical rant, which is a major one, and will address quite a few of the issues I raise here).
You do make me chuckle Neil. Your denial of being part of the society you belong to is risible. You’re in whether you want to be or not. You benefit from all the wonderful gifts it brings and you, like the rest of us, share the sins.
It works as a ‘democracy’. Our rather stupid populace continues to elect these types of people. They could elect better ones but they don’t.
Now, if you really do not want to be part of our society you would have to entirely isolate yourself from contact with it – all power, food, clothes, internet, goods, roads, beers and social interaction. Clearly you don’t do that. You are totally dependent. You, like me, will rail against the wrongs, the laws and control, but while you are willing to take the things you need and can call the police and fire brigade, pop to a hospital or nip down the shops you are part of us.
Having said that I agree with some of the things you say. I did not vote for these morons. I did not vote Brexit. I have not advocated laws that create inequality and aggression. I am personally not responsible for the actions of the Eton Schoolboys who have been ruling us for centuries and starting up wars for their personal gain. But as a member of this society, I am collectively responsible. I despair at the stupidity and ignorance, the gullibility and mindlessness of the people who vote in these profiteering pigs.
Democracy doesn’t have to be this way.
We do it! You are part of the we.
Opher, it amuses me that you are using almost exactly the same arguments as religionists and far-right racists. For you, it is “society” that brings good things such as (as you put it) “power, food, clothes, internet, goods, roads, beers and social interaction.” For the religionist, it is Gahd that brings to him all the good things of the world. For the racist, just like you, it is also “society” that does these things; but only if everyone in it is “White British.” You and the racist agree that this “society” is a political organization; while to the religionist would probably prefer it to be a religious one, but will accept political as the next best thing.
In reality, pretty much all the good things in your life – at least, the tangible ones – come to you through economic productivity, the free market and trade. They come via what Adam Smith called the “invisible hand.” As for social interaction, you can do that with whom you please, quite independently of any political affiliations you may (or may not) have. I can play as a member of my brass band, without regard for any wider (or political, or religious) “society” of which I might (or might not) choose to be a part.
OK, let me ask a few simple questions about this society you think I am implicitly a member of, and ought to be giving my say-so to. Who is its current president or chairman? Who are the members of its committee? Where is its constitution, and what is in that constitution? What is its stated objective? What is the membership subscription? How many members has it? Who may become a member? How are its members distributed geographically? That ought to be enough to be going on with…
I think you are a bit hard on those that you say are “rather stupid” because they “continue to elect these types of people.” You say they could elect better ones; but most of them can’t, because in politics today there is almost no-one worth voting for. All the political parties that have had power, or even significant influence, have cocked things up so badly that many people will simply refuse to vote for them on principle. I’ve taken that view of Labour since the 1970s, the Tories since about 1990, and the Slob Dims since they got power in my local area around 2004. And the Greens are completely unsupportable, because their policies are anti-human.
Quietly, I’m becoming a little pleased that Johnson and co are making such a mess of things, since hopefully this should lead to a lot more people joining me in the None of the Above lobby. I suppose it’s conceivable that the Reform party might prove to be a little bit better than what we suffer under now. But I’m not too sanguine about that, not for the longer term anyway; because, as Lord Acton told us, power corrupts. It’s the system that is wrong, not so much the voters.
And by the way, for an individualist like me there is no such thing as collective responsibility. There are only individual responsibilities. I may, of course, choose to work towards goals which I share with others; such as helping my brass band to play tough music better, by improving my own musical skills. In that way, I feel, and behave as, part of that society. But to those with whom I do not share much if anything in the way of values or goals (such as Johnson) I feel no social bond. As far as I am concerned, no society can be successful unless its members share its goals, and to a large extent share the same values (such as truthfulness, honesty and hard work).