"For the betterment of humanity" Is Much Like Nationalism

in #anthropology6 years ago (edited)


Before I start, let's get some basic terminology out of the way. Patriotism is the feeling of attachment to one's homeland. The individual identifies with their arbitrary group based on ethnic, cultural, political and historical aspects. Nationalism is more or less patriotism on steroids. The individual comes to believe that his country is somehow better than the rest.

I am not here to critique for or against patriotism/nationalism but to point out the similarities of someone who is aiming for the betterment of humanity vs someone who roots for the betterment of their own country. The reason I want to do this is because in almost every single argument — whether that is about religion, politics or science — we get to the point where "What is best for humanity.." drops like a stone on the table as if we are somehow gods that know what's "best" for the rest.

Sure, we like to pride ourselves that our evolution somehow "advances" towards a certain path but this is just a delusion of grandeur. Thousands of years ago we needed each other to socialize because our DNA is hard-coded with sociality. Fast forward to today or and we still do this only with extra steps (through a screen). This is just one simple example how we are still bounded to the same parameters of our nature. We don't 'improve', we just express our intricacies differently. This is something many people don't seem to get.

We like to think our "improvements" as a species based on silly attributes such as longevity, happiness, comfort, memory, entertainment and the like but we are still caught up in the same circle searching for meaning. There is no argument for making "earth better" based on how long someone lives or how arbitrarily happy they are. All these are just abstractions that are as silly as any form of patriotism or nationalism.

Here is the truth. We are not that different from other forms of life. As a general rule of thumb, we eat, shit and fuck much like everything else. We do have some differences but those are not better or worse than in other species. We might have developed trade and domesticated "fire" but other species have other "special" differences that we don't. Judging them from our perspective is much like having a top tennis player arguing with a top NBA player arguing who is the best sportsman. They are both good. Similar thing applies to earth. Whatever life has survived so far on this planet can be judged as "equally good but different".

Next time you catch someone boosting their argument with the "best for humanity" narrative try to use the same arguments as the ones being used against nationalists. They will know since most of these people are against patriotism.

Examples:

"Why do you take pride over earthlinks? Why do humans have to survive in the future?"

"Being proxy proud for things you have not accomplished is silly."

"How are you 'better" than other species. How other species are "better" than you are?

We haven't conquered the moon. Some specific people did. We didn't invent shit. Some people did. Using our species as a metric for inventions or accomplishments is as silly as someone being proud because his local football team won or because some troops (before he was even alive) killed some other guys that happen to be somewhere around his geographical area.

Those that are proud for their ancestors effectively demonstrate that they themselves fucked up. This is something we usually see today with modern science, religion and even economics. People try to search through history to milk some pride and "wisdom" from past figures but they end being as silly as any nationalist. Different times in the past meant different constituents. We cannot possibly apply past solutions to modern problems because life is entropic.

We do not aim towards a "better" future for humanity. These are just arrogant statements much like the one of "Let's save the planet". The planet doesn't give a fuck whether we live or perish. It went through 5 mass extinctions. It will go through more. People on earth look first and foremost their individual well-being, then their clan, then their country and then everyone else. Globalisation has made some hippies that somehow care for everyone but this is just a pretty narrative that is rather an outlier.







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Related sideways: in my, admittedly limited, experience with such people, people who claim to strive for the betterment of humanity and go off to do Good Things for others in far-away places, are often not the most reliable, useful, or even pleasant people in their immediate clan. I wonder if that is a general thing, and if so, if some "replacement" for a shortcoming is going on similar to the bit you write about pride.

I think you touch on a couple different things here. Speciesism is a thing, sure, but saying what is "better" for our species isn't irrational. We have some things to figure out there, but I can't agree with this:

...silly attributes such as longevity, happiness, comfort, memory, entertainment and the like but we are still caught up in the same circle searching for meaning. There is no argument for making "earth better" based on how long someone lives or how arbitrarily happy they are. All these are just abstractions...

Certain things can be discovered via bell curve statistics of individual preferences. Most people would rather live than die. Most people would rather be happy that clinically depressed. Most people enjoy the availability of entertainment over sensory deprivation. I could go on and on. When we talk about something being "good" or "better" we're talking from a framework we invented. Morality exists within a framework of conscious beings. Yes, some other animals are conscious at levels which may rival our own, and some day we may be able to understand and respect their preferences more.

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To be honest, patriotism doesn't lead much to a huge difference or at least it could be avoided with the use of other ways to "better" the country. Our Philippine National Hero was killed, because he wrote novels against the then Spanish government--a way of making people educated to what's really going on, a legacy. However, he only got killed, yes that triggered a revolution in the part of Filipinos, a fight for independence.

Still, the so-called legacy wasn't ever really passed on for improvement, for people were made individually not for the group he or she is brought in but first and foremost for him/herself, thus changes or legacies do not make sense as we have individual judgments for choices.

Yeap. Same thing happened with the French revolution. It was supposed to free people from the rule of the oligarchy and today the people of France are ruled by the unions that supposedly defended their freedom.

hmm im not sure bro, look at catalonia

it's really nice

The only thing you can do to "better humanity" assuming such thing is possible, is to improve yourself.

Summed it up nicely here:

People on earth look first and foremost their individual well-being, then their clan, then their country and then everyone else.

Care for yourself first, then the rest will come naturally, whatever the rest is to you personally.

You said it nice here:

People on earth look first and foremost their individual well-being, then their clan, then their country and then everyone else.

If had a million dollars I would first use it for my individual and my family well-being. Then if some money are left, I would use it for everyone else well-being (including my country, the people and the cats living in it :).

OK, I see the similarity with the Nationalism. People are rational beings and need a higher purpose in life. What do you expect their purpose to be then? Most people find value in the "For the better of humanity" precious stone on the table, even if it can't be eaten immediately like bread on the table "For my own well-being".

Everyone is searching for meaning and purpose in life. My answer? Is what you make out of it.

My personal opinion is that the best thing that could be done for "humanity" would be to get rid of 30%-40% of it. ;-)

Just kidding,what the world really needs is a lot more people.

Not sure how to read this 🤔.

If something is motivating a person to do good then there is nothing wrong, right? and the meaning of PEACE ,BROTHERHOOD and MUTUAL RESPECT is also same for everyone then what's the FUD man!!! Life should have a meaning and that should be a likely achievable meaning not that which is almost impossible .
Be Practical

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