Reply #59: Very unlikely we could ever "unite"

[FAndy9]

While I have always held very high ideals, i just don't think it's even possible that the entire human race could ever be united under one to achieve common good.

I think that, first of all, we need to realize that, psychologically and neurologically, we were never made for that. We are greedy by nature because that is the way we work. While we always can put many things ahead of our interest, the fact of the matter is that such things are few and far between, and working for the good of all might include sacrifices for which we are not all willing to make.

Which leads to a second point: how do you convince everyone that you're working for commmon good? Many individuals would seize the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Skeptics would righfully digress to cooperate.

And what exactly IS common good? Sure, for many it is just food, shelter, clothes. But as soon as we throw in stuff like "justice", "social justice", "equity", etc., you're going to be in major trouble. What about ideals? morals? How about requiring that if you don't work towards this "common good" you're not entitled to its fruits? Could you opt out of it?

We cannot and will not ever be able to define common good beyond the lowest common denominator, and that will always be insufficient for a utopical society.

And even IF we were to agree on a common good, which has occurred many times in history, how do you REACH it? Reaching the common good has been the one place where we all disagree.
And example of the gravity of this: a couple posters here said that one was for a bigass shock for change, the other one was for progression. Now, SURE they are working towards the same thing, but if one day you need to think whether you'll support the shock approach and join a revolution or vote, you are CLEARLY drawing up sides. And the choices will leave you two on different sides, and will make you enemies, because you have reached that point in the critical mass of ideas where the opposition to your idea will stop your momentum and make all you fought for worthless.

It IS the simple things that matter. The reason why the utopia fails is because it has a high chance of doing so in the first place, and the failure might result in something worse (why did many greens voted Democrat? because they couldn't stand to see bush elected). The Revolution works only if you have nothing to lose, like the proletariat of Czarist Russia. But when you have your family, life and wealth to protect, you won't give it up easily on something with a high risk of failure unless the returns are astronomically high (think those who invested in the dot-com bubble), and then again, most peopel CAN live with the shitty world they have, and leave their utopia to their imagination.

And just as we have seen, the Revolutions have been seized by men like Stalin and Mao, because change of such grand scale requires leadership. Leadership so in touch with reailty that it will screw the original idea and rape its followers.

No, In My Humble Opinion, progression is the only way. Revolutions work when all is in the shitter. And despite progression has the problem that you can always fall a step back a-la-Bush, there is no other way in a society as content and relatively wealthy as the American society.

End rant.