|
and human progress. See below...
The Individualistic Collective: Notes on Human Progress through Modern Society
“Even the smallest of the smallest can make the biggest dreams come true. Everyone matters.” –Kermit the Frog in “A Very Muppet Christmas”
The vastness and emptiness of the universe is inconceivable. There is an infinite amount of space, of great nothingness and of comparatively tiny everythingness, of unimaginable distances that light cannot traverse if given and infinite amount of time. In this void is one of an infinite number of galaxies, that holds one of a million stars, that holds one of nine planets, that holds one of millions of species of organisms, that is the hope for a meaningful existence for the universe. If human progress is not a real fact, if humanity cannot provide meaning in the universe, what hope for meaning is there? And if there is no hope for meaning, if life is meaningless, why do humans exist at all? That humanity exists is incredible, the odds against humankind’s existence are staggering. But we are here, and we exist, and we thrive, and we progress. That is why humankind is the hope for meaning in the universe, not our mere existence, but our proven and ever-increasing potential for progress. In The Ascent of Man, Jacob Bronowski posits that human civilization could only develop with agriculture. He insists that “civilization can never grow up on the move” (60). Only with an assured food supply could humans settle in villages and cities. Then, as agriculture improved, some laborers were freed from the need to farm, and became artisans and craftsmen. These craftsmen were afforded a degree of creative and artistic freedom that no human before experienced (78). Only when these humans were freed from concerns about the most basic of needs, food, shelter, and warmth, could progress begin in a process that has continued to the present. Human society has arrived at a point where this potential for continued progress is ripe. Society, particularly western society, is marked by extreme freedoms afforded to each individual that are fiercely protected by society as a whole. Modern democratic governments give citizens the rights to pursue their own meaning and purposes in life, but demand contributions in the form of taxes and military services from citizens to ensure that societal conditions remain stable enough that people can pursue their goals. This phenomenon, what I call individualistic collectivism, allows humans to pursue progress as they see fit, and ensures collective security to provide for the most basic needs of all. This arrangement fits very well with humankind’s biological nature, and is a result of societal growth and changes since the emergence of humankind as a species distinct from other primates. Humans evolved to this state of society and government, because of the interaction of human nature and human reason. The concept of individualistic collectivism is based on the evolution of various societal structures that are real and ever growing. These structures include human progress in technology, in liberty and equality, in morality, and in literature and the arts.
...It goes on for seven more pages.
|