Since the Ronald Regan era, it seems like emphasis has been placed on the individual over the collective. A collective can be one’s local organizations or even the United States as a whole; the individual can be the self or, since Citizens United, a corporation. Every day many people function chaotically, running around aimlessly completing tasks that might benefit others but most likely only themselves.
The society that we have created and have been molded by puts immense pressure on the individual to perform near perfectly in every aspect of life. Thinkers like Emile Durkheim have analyzed suicide rates as a function of characteristics of capitalist societies and have found that the responsibilities put upon people by our socioeconomic structure creates a great amount of despair within society.
Cases of suicide and rates of depression have been found to increase with societies who expect greater amounts of responsibility or give greater amounts of social freedom to their citizens.
Now, I’m not saying that we need to curb freedom in the United States, but some aspects of society are affecting the mindset of our citizens negatively and threaten the cohesiveness of the collective.
Although I’m an atheist, I will freely admit that religion seems to give a positive structure to the lives of many people. Those who have little money or who are trying to stay sober find a comfort in a power above their own comprehension. Without attempting to sound like a Kierkegaard fanboy, I also believe comfort or faith helps to fend off despair and possibly lower suicide. Honestly, I believe that religion might be a necessity to keep a society cohesive because many people need faith in order to cope with the realities of life.
Religion, however, is not the only organization that can help bind people together. Labor unions, book clubs, and neighborhood watch groups are all ways that people can build relationships with their fellow citizens. It’s not that we need to live in a manifestation of a ‘50s sitcom, but our society seems to be splitting upon lines that are a little hard to chalk up to coincidence.
One of the biggest dangers to American society is widening income inequality that debilitates the poor and shifts economic power to the wealthiest Americans. Conservatives tout that Americans all have equal opportunity to take control of their lives and live in economic stability.
How funny it seems that those politicians who put forth these policies are the same people that own large companies inherited from their family or who got into an Ivy League school because of their “legacy grant”. Yes, of course there are women and men who accomplished great feats in their life and have Horatio Alger “rags to riches” stories that could be considered tear-wrenching, but what is forgotten by many people is the simple fact that some people are born with more opportunities than others.
One of the biggest dangers to American society is widening income inequality that debilitates the poor and shifts economic power to the wealthiest Americans.
A possible reply might be worded: “Indeed, some people are born more fortunate than others, but humans should strive through humble beginnings by focusing on themselves. Economic freedom is more basic to human life than giving handouts to the poor.”
Alright, maybe I made that a little too harsh, but to me, this is exactly what their argument boils down to.
The brand of capitalism that many hardcore conservatives brandish these days could be considered “Economic Darwinism.” Coincidentally, many of these same people do not believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, which is a great system that traces all of us to a common ancestor.
The collective allows us to socially bond with one another and provide essential information for one another in order to “live the good life.”
I guess what this rant is essentially getting to is that we, as humans, seem to have some sort of empathy for one another. There are exceptions for this general principle, but empathy is a word that we give to the bond that humans feel for one another. It’s something that can also be seen as practical for humanity because it increases fitness for the entire species.
Maybe if our priorities were sighted toward ourselves, our families, and the collective together instead of focusing mostly on the first of these three, we would feel more fulfilled as humans and minimize mental illness.
The collective allows us to socially bond with one another and provide essential information for one another in order to “live the good life.” We need to focus on how we can make our society more cohesive. Remember, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was only 61 years ago. Humans have the potential to be better toward one another and, in turn, change society for the better as well. This is not idealism; it’s realistic optimism.