20100109

Saturday, January 09, 2010

I read history as it is written, from right to left. But, that is not to say that it is logically impossible for this to alter. It’s imaginable that an oppressive group could seize power over the whole of humanity, for a virtually eternal amount of time, arresting or reversing the liberalization of humanity. And, as power concentrates, and those with it tend to accumulate more and relinquish none, it is documented in history that liberalizing forces, from time to time, arrest, break down and reverse this accumulation when it becomes unfit. The overall trend of forward motion, however, is one that moves from chaos to order, and oppression to freedom simultaneously, despite the fact that these dichotomies are not always aligned. So, this cycle moves humanity, throughout the history of western civilization, as aforementioned, from right to left, with the whole of humanity being afforded greater and more equal freedom, due in large part to the progress of humanist morality, or rather, human morality. And, it also moves from chaos to order, simplicity to elegance, due in large part to the power exercised by individuals or organizations.

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James Cameron’s, Avatar, was not simply a social commentary on the U.S. use of military force to secure energy resources without regard to established culture or human life, but clearly on planetary ecology as well. I have long sympathized with this message of a need for human integration into nature, and efficient symbiosis, rather than domination and exploitation. This was absolutely clear to me even as a teenager. And, I sense that the zeitgeist is shifting from one of individualism, selfishness, and domination—which perhaps saw its peak in the late 90’s—to one of integration, cooperation, and compassion. However this global organism moves, if it moves by the influence human nature, it will move in the direction that favors the most humans the most, for the longest amount of time. In our sociological development, we’ve become better planners, able to consider long term plans and consequences, further into the future, as our supplementation of memory and thought increases with technology. This, combined with the unifying forces of communication and social networking technology, has allowed us to awaken to those practices which have been contrary to our efficiency, as well as to our humanity. And, despite the decreasing numbers of people who deny or resist this progress, it will continue as long as there are humanists among us.

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The displacement of human labor, of jobs, by technology is not a new phenomenon, the quintessential example being the Luddites and the mechanized loom. Today we hear often about the rapid, perhaps even exponential improvement and development of technology, which translates in some areas, to the rapid, perhaps exponential replacement of human jobs by machines. All the while, the population of the world continues to increase, as our medical knowledge and ability, as well as our ability in agriculture improves due to technology also. The fact that we presently have the ability to meet the kilocalorie per day requirements for all humans alive is another issue. But, more and more people continue to become unemployed due to job replacing technologies, and this trend shows no sign of reversing. Where are these jobs going? Either they go to unskilled labor, the service sector, or the unemployment line, diminishing the middle class. This leads many people to denounce technology, as did the Luddites. But, technology is not the enemy of our collective happiness or our progress; it rather lends itself to these. Unless something alters, this trend will lead to a critical mass of sorts, where the numerous unemployed people of diminishing social and economic class will be forced to take action, or die. Could this possibly lead to something like Marx’s proletariat revolution?

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Maybe there are some things over which we should exercise our influence, and others that we should let run their course, free from manipulation.