Terry, fear and greed is an incomplete paradigm.
But before I go into that that, I want to say, this post will be long because it appears few on this thread agree with me. So I must make my case singularly. I've also noticed, while formulating my thinking last night, that the thread has moved on to other issues. Therefore, I plan on this being my last post on the issue. But you know how that can go sometimes. :-)
Fear and greed is an incomplete paradigm because instead of the utopian world you envision, a society built entirely on "greed" and "fear" would collapse. These forces would result in "Greed" (the lust for power and material things) and "Fear" (slavery and the use of children for forced labor). I would suggest your society is missing one key ingredient which binds all successful societies together. "Trust" without trust your society is an incomplete paradigm. The two Domains are incomplete without "trust".
In every field of science the breakthrough's are always breakwith's. Our constitution, and the founding of this country was based on a paradigm which broke with the paradigm of the middle ages. No more divine right of Kings, it became government "of the people by the people and for the people". Look at Russia on the other hand, they were stuck in a paradigm underlying the structure of the country. It wasn't the people, it was the underlying structure. Based on "greed", (the top controlling the masses) and "fear" (a police like presence enforced by the powerful) The flaw of Russia was not in the people, but in the paradigm under which the system of government operated.
It wasn't necessarily completely wrong. It was simply incomplete, in the same way Ayn Rand's "greed and fear" society would be. An incomplete society missing the key ingredient "trust".
Instead of greed and fear, everything is about interdependence and relationships. These take time to develop, and without "trust" are destroyed quickly.
So, the question is, how do you build a society in which trust is a major element of this third Domain?
First, you need to recognize that trust is an element of a natural system. Everyone values "trust". Whether you are Moslem, Christian, black or white, Jew or Jentile, Indian or Eskimo. All cultures value "trust". Its a "natural law".
Greed and Fear alone would never work in a natural system. Natural Laws would exist and create struggles. Natural Laws are embodied in "principles".
A culture is like an immune system, when it is attacked it has little capacity to defend itself. People who only believe in greed and fear carry aids to our culture. They undermine the trust of the nation. Trust lies in the character of the nation, at the hub of this center are a set of principles that everybody bye's into. That's what makes the civilization strong, viable and flexible. And its what strengthens the immune system so we can handle any change. If you get an immune system, a strong culture built on the principles of trust and trustworthiness, you can unleash the creativity and talent of all the people.
Socioligist Emile Dirkime once said, "Where mora's are sufficient, laws are unnecessary, where mora's are insufficient, laws are unenforceable".
In a sense, this third domain is the law of the unenforceable. Where norms and mora's, values and principles are. That is the essence of civilization. The cultural immune system.
If you have strong emotional rules surrounding principles, its amazing what a society can accomplish. The principles on which America took its template was the Bible. Recognizing this, does not mean other religions are evil or wrong. I can still admire the religion of Hinduism and recognize the religion in which America took its blue-print. I may like and value the color blue, that doesn't mean I hate red.
Trust involves many dimensions. Trust is like an emotional bank account, when people are principle centered. The more deposits you make in the trust domain. The more efficient a society operates. Charity and understanding come easily because people trust one-another.
People who have not done the personal work on personal trust, will find it extremely difficult to build inter-personal trust that a society needs. Religion, and specifically the values of Judai-Christian ideals, allowed people to built the personal mental models which fed our immune system in times of difficulty and change.
Without recognizing and valuing the "trust" domain, your Ayn Rand society would perish. America's culture was built on trust in our leaders, eachother and the words of our fore-fathers.
Michael |
