Godless governance of the tribal self

It is Saturday night and the quiet has set in even more deeply due to the price depression. Let's talk.

Once upon a time I believed in a God and now, it doesn't matter either way. If there is a God as many believe or if there is not, my path does not change as yes or no, I will do my best. The reason I stopped believing in the is-ness of it is that it becomes a crutch for the mind, a director of action, a fallback position, a weakness. It is also unknowable which means no one can know.

For some, this means they believe on faith but there inevitably comes a time where they think they know and will use their false knowledge to oppress and harm others through the belief they have some magical power that raises them above the position of those beside them.

For many, without a belief in a God they believe that society will crumble and fall and immorality will reign over the land yet in my experience, believing in a God tends to justify the poor behaviours of a society. God is built in the image of man and that created position is designed to support the believers so they are always in the right. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the most violent counties on earth are also among the most religious.

I think that perhaps, similarly to the workings of small tribes that relied on each other for survival, religion was a solution to a problem of cooperation and governance. Religion was a way to get many otherwise unrelated people to work together toward a common goal and the direction of the group was entrusted to a centralised authority, the priests and the holy people.

And, as so often is the case with centralized power, various forms of corruption and hierarchies formed that were used to satisfy various demands of the few. The religions went from connectors to separators as people were judged based on their level of obedience to the ruling classes.

At some point, even this became too unwieldy and governments were formed to take care of the practical nature of mass control and the church the heavenly. Even now there are strong ties between the two in most countries but, much weaker than they once were. Now, there are power struggles between authorities as the governments grew in strength and the churches declined.

But again, this has gone through another shift that has thrown both groups ability to control the masses into turmoil for as groups expanded and the distances contracted, conflicts arose between varying positions. Government against rival government, religion against rival religion and all manner of mix between as the superiority complexes of each group battled for victory over the others.

As the battle rages, people have increasingly stepped back to observe the actions of their chosen authorities and found them lacking in the ability to solve the problems they once did. The same problems groups have always faced, cooperation and governance. And individuals were born, those free to decide their own fate.

But, individuals who have always been governed by the direction of authority, do not know how to self-govern in a way that they are still able to cooperate en masse with others globally to face and solve the problems that affect us all. Instead, they act on what they have learned from their oppressors and have chosen to raise their individual needs over that of the groups and that of the individuals who stand beside them.

Perhaps this is where we are now in the history of humanity. A place where we have outgrown the tools of a tribe to build trust, a religion to direct us and are rapidly outgrowing that of the governments. Perhaps right now this is where we are, where I am writing.

Perhaps we are in the early stages of developing the toolset where large numbers of people can build the trust of a tribe, the cooperation for common goals of a religion and the practical applications of a government. It is possible that through technical solutions, we will be able to build the trust in individuals and the compassion as individuals to act together to solve problems of all natures.

Perhaps over time, the interactions between vastly different populations and ideals will mean that the rivalry observed previously will be replaced by a unity of progress toward something greater than any individual or, group within the whole. Can you see this happening?

This is the problem we face as to see the result of our actions now ar impossible, just as the tribe's person could not predict the catholic church, nation states and banking systems. They were a vital part of their development though. Maybe at this point as we bicker and argue and act with hostile and greedy self-interest, we are that tribe member, blind to the possibility of what the future could contain.

There are many conflicts in me and I have no idea what the future holds for any of us but, I do not need a God nor any other authority to live a life with personal ethics, I do not even need you. But, here we are a very large group of diverse people and we have some very large problems to solve that none of us can solve alone.

God or no god, what are we going to do about it?

Taraz
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