Virtue can only flourish among equals.
Mary Wollstonecraft
1759-1797
Fareed Zakaria
January 24, 2019
Washington Post
“This, then, is the post-American world.
Not one marked by Chinese dominance or Asian arrogance. Not an outright
anti-American one, but one in which many yearn for a greater U.S. presence. One
in which countries are freelancing, narrowly pursuing their own interests, and
hoping that the framework of international order remains reasonably stable. But
with no one actively shoring up the international system, the great
question remains: In a world without leaders, will that system over time weaken
and eventually crumble?”
This is the Gloom and Doom Fareed. Below
is an essay a week later where he comes on as Mr. Sunshine and Hope. In both
essays he ignores the fatally flawed, thousand pound gorilla in the room – consumer crony capitalism.
Now, let’s consider the above, his first
essay.
Regrettably, the US is not withdrawing
from world leadership because it believes the system is flawed and it is looking for a
more sustainable, equitable way forward. We, our current leaders, are
withdrawing because they (wrongly) believe their nationalist power, wealth and
world hegemony can be increased and more assured by going it alone.
Trump, his GOP members generally but not all of them, claim
and reassure their patrons and voter base with this ill-founded notion: “It’s a
social Darwinist* world out there! No more operating as one nation among equals.
We shall take the lead, dominate through economics and military threat and force,
and let all others fare as best they can in our wake. The only globalism** we adhere to
is one where the U.S. economically dominates but allows political spheres of
influence among its adversary nations. Globalization for us is
a very flat pyramid of the world’s nations with the U.S. at the apex. So help us God!"
This national versus international approach
is an analogous, individual-skewed take on the individual-group dynamic, the
most fundamental aspect of being human. We recently looked at this dynamic in
depth at Owl & Ibis – A Confluence
of Minds, through my presentation of The Evolution of Western Individualism, Part
I and Part
II. The analogy being made here is between the individual-group dynamic and a nationalism-globalism dynamic now favoring nationalism.
From a consideration of prehistory, history
and current events O&I concluded that a political and economic approach skewed
in either direction - one favoring sustained, hardline, libertarian, individual freedom
or one that favors fascism, slavery, group dominance - is not better for human wellbeing and
flourishing than a sustained balance between the two. That, since the origins
of agriculture and urbanization the balance has shifted back and forth between favoring collectivism then favoring individualism. O&I believes there is a deep need among most of Humankind, something fundamental to our cultural nature, to ensure that one
approach does not dominate the other indefinitely.
Here's another aspect of that same human nature, something contradictory:
Here's another aspect of that same human nature, something contradictory:
“Humankind has
an insatiable appetite for ever-increasing national/tribal control of natural and
human resources. We also condone the relatively unfettered use of the tools
& exploitative methods we have invented to do so. Both of these have & continue, in more modern times particularly, to dehumanize & threaten our ability to think collectively & behave
humanely and humanistically toward each other. Because of this we continue to fail at achieving
and sustaining that which is in the best interest of all individuals &
their groups.” – JEL
The Evolution of Western
Individualism, Part I
Slides 12 & 13
IMHO
the poorer countries should not wring their hands over the US withdrawing from
leading the global consumer crony capitalist (GCCC) system, as Zakaria tells us they are.
But,
alas, the poor nations do fret because most of their leaders emulate the GCCC
system, and their masses are mostly in sync with them. US global leadership in the past just made
them feel more secure in following along.
Even
now, without the US leading, at home the poor nation populaces still prefer a kleptocratic, consumer
crony, religion professing, capitalist despot in power, than a learned yet
corrupt, secular socialist/communist. One who might deny them the opportunity
to get their big house, their plush car, their fancy
clothes, their electronic gadgetry, their big bank balance
- all the heaven on earth wonders they've learned to dream of from viewing
Western movies, videos and TV.
Regular
readers of this blog might remember my analogy of the generic primates who come
upon a tree filled with ripe figs. Chomp, chomp, eat them all. Burp, sleep. Awake,
look for another resource to fully exploit. Poop, have sex along the way. Supplicate yourself before your god(s) if you have any. Tomorrow? Pfft. What’s a tomorrow? It’s today
until I die.
This
is the basic myopic primate economic, ecological pattern most humans, rich and poor,
leaders and followers, are still wedded to.
But
back to the poorer nations. They will be in a better position than the rich
ones to respond to the collapse(s). They have less distance to descend,
socially and personally, and won’t be as shocked by the psychic trauma and
material degradation when they come.
They
know the cycle of boom and bust. They’ve lived it, in some cases repeatedly, or it is still fresh in their
local folk knowledge. They also know what to do when it busts.
Go
local, very local. Cope as best you can. Work to build a basis for hope but
expect nothing.
We
are still a very immature species. But we persist. For now.
_____________
*
- Social Darwinism is a theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are
subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals.
Now largely discredited, social Darwinism was advocated by Herbert Spencer and
others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was used to justify
political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention
and reform.
**
- Here
is a good explanation of the original meaning and intent of “globalism.”
~ ~ ~
Fareed Zakaria
January 31, 2019
Washington Post
A week has passed. Enter Sunshine and
Hope Fareed. Here he is with a Pinkeresque (Enlightenment Now) catalog of
progress, an elixir to bolster hope. Yet he gives no real attention to the systemic dead
end we face, or any reasons to think that progress will naturally beget more progress.
That dead end I'm referring to is where world order, civilization if you will, through consumer crony capitalism and industrial environmental damage, collapses.
Fareed is a bright fellow and I enjoy
and have learned much from most of his op-eds. Surely he knows that past
accomplishments are not always the best measurement of betterment, or sound justification for being hopeful. And that they don’t necessarily foretell what is likely to
happen in the future. Still he trots them out. Does it trouble him that we
are distraught over the future and he wishes to comfort us? Is he just being a
balanced and fair journalist?
Maybe he supports the current crony
capitalism (CCC) system. I’ve searched his essays and found no overall condemnations
of it. In his 2013 essay he suggests tweaking the system and lauds one of pillars
of CCC, the need for perpetual economic growth: “It is possible to be in favor
of investment and reform. In fact, that’s exactly what the United States
needs to ensure the next generation of growth.”
If sustainability, avoiding extinction,
and maintaining a habitable environment are your goals for the future, the
means by which and the direction you travel are more important than the milestones you leave
behind. The accomplishments of CCC are impressive but do not make a bed of laurels upon
which to rest or sustain hope.
Consider this technological analogy. An
electric, air-conditioned computerized bullet train is a big step up from
coal-fired steam. But if the train is heading toward a collision with a mountain wall at 200 mph
we can’t say it’s heading toward a better future because it’s a better train
than its predecessors. A catastrophe is imminent if the train, computers and
all, keeps going on the same “track.” Are we indeed on the wrong track,
you ask? I agree with those who, based on reasoning and evidence, believe we
are. Here’s one.
Making progress and a bleak view of the
future are not mutually exclusive. Making progress is no reason to conclude it
will continue. A bleak view can still acknowledge that the progress that has
been made is impressive.
Systemic reform, economic and political,
might be possible. Many believe not, for good reasons. I’m not sure. I’m
doubtful but nevertheless hope so.
It’s time, now, to fix things before we
“progress” ourselves further toward an ever higher likelihood of catastrophe(s)
and collapse.
Here’s my take on how: http://jameselassiter.blogspot.com/2019/01/i-am-citizen-of-world-diogenes.html?m=1
In closing, please consider the
following from my closing remarks in The Evolution of Individualism, Part II, “Individualism
in the 20th and 21st Centuries – A Closer Look”:
Though
constrained by physicality, influenced by genetics and guided by societies and
their culture, the individual has choices - degrees of conformity or deviance.
• Totalitarian slavery and libertarian
anarchy are unsustainable, inhumane and contrary to human nature.
• The driving force propelling human flourishing
is the protection and tolerance of individual expression.
• Human genius is singular.
• Individuals bring variation and energy
to the crucible of Humankind.
• Individuals are formed, aimed and
given space by groups.
• Individuals animate and populate
social life.
• Groups nourish, express, select among
and sustain the fruits of individual effort. They are the forge for tempering
and humanely directing and applying individual genius.
• The group is the arena of human life,
the winnower, the repository of truth and human wisdom, and the womb and
nursery of individual creativity.
• There is no surviving, flourishing or progress
without both individuals and groups.
• What causes individuals and groups to break
bad, to fail? Extremes of power, wealth, fear, greed, arrogance, ignorance and
intolerance. The diminishing of compassion, scope, vision and hope.
• The cure, the inoculation, the
safeguard? Greater liberty, equality, fraternity through education about human
nature, virtue, pluralism, and cosmopolitanism.
