It occurred to me, reading comments and thinking some more, that while I perhaps express some of what I thought about when societies may no longer matter and how they are being built within the larger society, I never really expressed the reason I thought it was worth digging into at all - in other words, what the down side of it was.
It is as simple as a fractured society.
If a society continues to loosen the ties that bind it together - to create a situation where the benefit to the individual is not longer there, where commonalities are no longer shared - it can become an ill body politic, like a spinal injury that is concealed by the fact that one has an incredibly strong core to compensate. Have an accident that causes a lose of the core muscles, and suddenly that strong individual is stricken, unable to move or perform almost any sort of activity or lifting anything at all.
The loosened ties will be overlooked or ignored by the leaders of that society, who are often trying to do "something grand and amazing" and assume that there is always going to be some level of discontent - "you have to break a few eggs to make Eggs Benedict" and so forth. They will interpret silence for agreement, withdrawal for compliance, and a lack of involvement as the silent majority that is supporting what they are doing, even if they are not vocal about it.
And then, the crisis will come.
I have seen crises in my life. I remember the Twin Towers Crashing to the ground. I remember the run on the market in 2008 that resulted in so many job loses (including my own). In each of these events, at some level, Americans "pulled together".
I have also seen the madness of The Plague when it first started last year, when stores were stripped of paper goods and food.
When the next crisis comes - and it will come - this will not occur.
The government and society leaders - of any society, not just the US one - will go looking to the people to unite to face this internal or external crisis, to come together to face it as one people, unified.
There will be no gathering together. There will be no rallying around the flag, about what it means to be a current citizen of "X" society. There will be no unity.
The core having becoming injured, the spine will collapse.
If those governments and leaders think their enemies abroad - economic or physical - do not know this, they are fools. If they think those that mean them harm - criminal elements, gangs, purveyors of violence - are blind to what is going on, they suffer from reading their own memorandums and press releases.
There is a great deal of biding of time going on, of measuring. And when the crisis comes, quite likely there are societies that will find they have suddenly gone wanting for the very sorts of ties that they spent so long and so carefully pulling apart.
Post Script: As a note, when I started what came to be this week's worth of writing - which, I admit, is not of the most hopeful variety - I did not anticipate that as the week went on, I would find that others were writing about the same thing. I have found four blog posts to date writing about this and at least one longer article. And the comments from others that in fact, they are seeing the same thing as well.
Something is not right here. There is an undercurrent which is not being recognized by some - not of hate or anger or rage necessarily, but of a growing and vast indifference to the way the world is moving. An undercurrent which appears to be gaining steam.
There is. Without getting political about it - the recent Chauvin vs Floyd case may be an example. From the doings we are supposed to assume that everyone wants the cops defunded and done away with.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmmmmm. I will bet if somebody put a sock in the babbling politicos and their puppets in the media - I will bet the vast majority of us would want more of a police presence in dangerous areas, not less.
Part of the political process for both sides is to identify wedge issues your opponents have, and exploit them by busting up the unity of your adversaries. We now have so many explosive and divisive issues.That is just the gas on the fire that is already blazing because of vibrancy and diversity. The mass media and the social media thrive on tension, friction and controversy so they gin it up for all it’s worth.
I live in the middle of it, and I see a Darwinian moment coming for the Preppers and Christians. On your side, I see reason, restraint, common sense, and Godly virtues like being slow to anger. On their side (my exfamily is like this), I see hysteria, rage, self righteousness, childishness - and a growing need for vengeance. These guys are gearing up for a fight right now, and the guys over here are in their secluded rural bubbles, or their gated communities or sheltered pleasant urban neighborhoods... thinking that it will pass and they’ll just “ride it out” or go gray and that the guys driving this won’t bother with them. There are some really, really bad things shaping up out there, folks. And what you don’t know CAN hurt you. Historically, the guys driving this kill millions at a time, entire nations of people who have nothing to do with their issues.
You may not be interested in politics... but politics are very interested in you...
Glen, in reading and speaking with folks what I am finding is a vast disconnect between what is going on in the outer world - the government and societal world - and what is going on with more and more of the population. If I were to put a note on it, I think people's patience is starting to wear thin.
DeleteViolence is one way (and arguably in my view, the most painful and costly way) to bring a society down. The other is a vast indifference that manifests itself in civic disobedience.
Perhaps.
DeleteMy question is, though: who wants this? All the division, all the anger, the murderous race relations? I'm thinking this goes beyond mere politics and media sensationalism TB. I get the sense that somebody is driving this, and I don't know who the players are or what they want. All I can see are their puppets and clowns... and I refuse to be manipulated by them.
Consider the Chauvin/Floyd case: EVERYONE is angry about it. The people it was suppose to appease are angrier than ever, normal guys like us are wondering what that means to having a society ruled by laws, and not liking the answers we are getting. Nobody wins. Usually in political conflicts, you have winners and losers - that is what politics is for.
I am wondering if someone is driving all this? Or am I ascribing to malice that which can be explained by stupidity?
Well, ultimately Satan does Glen. He is the father of lies, and completely benefits from anger, rage, and violence.
DeleteIn terms of someone less "supernatural" driving this? It is possible, I suppose - the revolutions of China, Russia, and Germany all came about because of a cadre of individuals spreading dissent. At the same time, we are a pretty stupid people and (as I replied down below to Pete) happily through away other good things in our lives. Why would throwing away a perfectly good nation state be any different?
I saw a meme today "We are in the "events leading up to" part of history yet to be written. It ends with maps and squiggly lines and arrows, lots of arrows..."
ReplyDeleteYou and Glen are hitting it on the head.
It sure does feel like that STxAR. I wish I could see where those maps and squiggly lines lead.
DeleteThis "need for society" is the primary reason things haven't already gone south, TB. People still feel the need for unity... even if it is merely sharing a common history. This is how Mexico became what it is today. The steps taken by TPTB were so small, people said "Meh; it's not that bad; not worth going to war over." The same thing is happening to the U.S. today. It's like a cat creeping up on a feeding dove. I've often pondered whether, in the face of another "Pearl Harbor," Americans would actually come together as it did in '41. I don't know if yo remember the "Dallas" series back in the 80's. People would marry and divorce, and yet no one ever left Southfork. ...That's the United States today; multiple countries contained by one... porous... border... This never ends well...
ReplyDeleteThe problem Pete - Which you point out - is what happens when that common history goes away. Then, there is nothing.
DeleteI should probably read up more on Mexican history - you are right, it does seem like an indicator.
I am old enough to remember Dallas, but not enough to have watched the show. But yes, that does seem like us now - after all, there is really no where else to go.
Therein lies the problem, TB; there's no place to run from here. America is freedom's last stand. Anyone who thinks they're going to just "move to Canada or New Zealand" needs to do their homework. They're literally jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. What's left for us? I see the United States breaking into several different countries, and not in the distant future, either. Trouble with that is that the no-longer-united states will be easy prey for the likes of China. I've been saying it for decades; CHINA is our greatest threat, and it would like nothing more than to see the U.S. fracture. 'Makes you wonder who's paying who to do what...
DeletePete, I have no illusions there is anywhere left to run too.
DeleteYes, I see the same: the separation of the United States into smaller units. We simply are not a "nation" anymore, and are rapidly on our way to not being a "state". Who benefits? Almost everyone. China certainly benefits, but so does Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and anyone else with a beef against us.
But I do not know if it is planned as such. I think we are actually foolish enough to just do it on our own. People through away good relationships, good jobs, and good situations all the time; why would throwing away a perfectly good nation state be any less believable?
I've been following this blog series and the comments with interest, although I confess it's all intellectually loftier than I am. On a basic level, human needs are simple: food, shelter, safety, relationship (firstly through family and secondarily through community), and a sense of purpose in one's life. Seems simple enough for a society to fulfill.
ReplyDeleteSo what's happened? Somehow there has been a shift, so that the things we are vehemently squabbling over don't seem to fit any of those categories. Oh, we still use the terms. "Feeling safe," for example, has been trotted out quite regularly for awhile now, with the implication for that feeling as being everybody else's responsibility. Some folks might agree with that, but sorry, it just comes across (for example) as manipulative; not as caring or solution oriented.
Nowadays, most people seem to want the government to fix everything, and hence the rallying around our chosen political teams. We only agree with proposed solutions if they are the ones our team endorses. It's always been this way, but somehow we've lost the civility that keeps a society from destroying itself. Somehow, it has become socially acceptable to hate, belittle, and bully those with different ideas or opinions. Add the pandemic to the mix and it seems to me, we're on the brink of creating a caste system.
This is not a matter of right and wrong, this is dysfunctional. Ultimately, it won't work because hate is a habit, and anger is addictive. Bullying may result in the appearance of compliance, but it does not win people to anything. These are being politically tolerated for something those in power want, but hate and anger aren't things that are easily turned off. I just hope the new world order they are pushing for turns out to be what they thought they wanted.
Leigh - "Intellectually lofty". I both smile and laugh at this: smiling because it sounds like a good thing and laughing because if most people met me, they would probably find me the farthest thing in the world from either intellectual or lofty. Another term for it could be "Thinks out loud too much" (along with "runs with scissors").
DeleteYour response is actually quite spot on, at least for what I was trying to convey. We all have some actual need for a society and its benefits; what has been created is a society which almost has a sort of faux altruism about it: the society must be completely and totally dedicated to serving the I. Everything - as you say, "safety", food, rent, - has all becoming the responsibility of the government to provide (and by the government, we mean us, because the government does not generate revenue). If it is not provided, the society is at fault, not I as the individual.
Civility disappeared when people who disagreed with it a policy did not call out others on their side not necessarily for what they were saying, but how they were saying it. We were treated to the spectacle of people marching in Washington shouting vulgarities against the then-siting president, and the media and 50% of the country cheered. The side they represented did not reprimand them for such behavior; thus it became endorsed. And what is endorsed on one side then becomes endorsable on the other. (A second version of this is when there is a reprimand but it is provided in such a sneering way that it essentially becomes an endorsement).
Hate and anger are habit forming and addictive (this, at least, the Star Wars franchise got right). And once it consumes its enemies, it consumes itself. And bullying only enforces behavior but does not change hearts and minds. Those hearts and minds will simmer until they, too, reach the explosion point.
Those that build this new society may find that the have achieved their victory, but only a pyrrhic one.
TB, you wrote, "There is an undercurrent which is not being recognized by some - not of hate or anger or rage necessarily, but of a growing and vast indifference to the way the world is moving."
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Also, people who appear indifferent may be following a different current, as expressed in Romans 12:2 (The Message version):
"So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."
Keith
Hi Keith! It is possible that in fact it is as you say; that the indifference I (and others) are sensing is because there is a growing movement towards Christ. That said, I cannot really see it from here: if this was true, I would suspect that we would see in some way a world growing more holy and Christlike. At the moment, the evidence seems to suggest otherwise.
Delete