Over the centuries a sense of cultural pride has disappeared from us. We could pinpoint this to the fact that our societies have put greater value on who we, as individual human beings, are. We have forgotten about the collective, about our place in the group we belong to.
Many times I have refused it. I thought, for a man of principles, it is important to do as he thinks is morally just. But I am not sure anymore if it is worth it. It is far easier to go with the flow, at least when your mind is open to pursuing such a strategy. Mine is not. Something inside of me keeps me from doing the obvious, from doing ‘as they told me’.
Most human beings take for granted that they are coexisting with others. It will not come to their minds to seek seclusion and to live like hermits. There are no organisations that encourage voluntary isolation by individuals. Even political parties that strive to liberalise individuals from group interference aim at building a free living-together.
I have spent some time thinking about the ‘true value’ of relationships. I define relationships in a broad way, thus including friends, colleagues, partners, family. I think there must some kind of mechanism that keeps all these bonds together, but at the same time it must allow change. What keeps people together? Why do we need this bonding anyway?
Money is one of the most important things in the life of a human being. Money buys a way out of poverty, diseases and homelessness. Money brings status and friends. Money, though, is more than a piece of paper. It is linked to the world of production. With the growing amounts of paper money, we have lost more and more sight of what it actually is.
Over decades the idea has grown that the collective is responsible for arranging ‘morally justifiable’ wages. It has become more difficult to directly attribute performance to payment. Differences in wealth stimulated the eruption of groups that are bundled bargaining powers. Today, we see that the minimum wage results in losses of jobs.
There are Europeans out there, let us say a fair share of them, who are referring to the American culture as if it were a disease. What bothers these sleepy Europeans?
The Netherlands are internationally known for their liberal policies on euthanasia, abortion and soft drugs. A few years ago, the rise of laid Mr. Fortuyn brought an undercurrent of dissent to the surface. People seem to feel unrepresented and unable to influence public governance. Are the Netherlands as liberal as some say?
The US Department of Transport (DoT) uses state of the art microscopes to find barriers to keep Virgin America out of the US market. The newly found airline has already taken delivery of nine Airbus A320 aircraft, but is still waiting for an operating license. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the US airline industry suffers from inefficiencies and protective regulations.
In liberal societies, like those in the West, constitutions have been drawn up to protect the rights of individuals, and so the rights of minority groups. In these secular societies, an elected parliament ensures that governance is in line with preferences of the majority. The rule of the majority, though, is the second best solution to guard civil liberties.