I often suffer existential crises, particularly regarding my belief system. I have, for most of my life, been pretty willing to ask questions of myself and others; to doubt and examine assumptions; to be a skeptic; to cherish the truth. It's probably why I was eventually attracted to getting a degree in philosophy, despite the perception that it's not useful.
The concept that hooked me was Kierkegaard's: passion in uncertainty. We are passionate about the things of which we are uncertain, the things we fear (to either come to pass or not come to pass). We are not passionate about the answer to a simple math problem or whether a bird outside ate breakfast this morning. The uncertain things we believe are often ludicrous, which can lead us into having to defend ludicrous things that may not have an easy resolution (or in some cases any proof whatsoever).
The solution lies in understanding the problem. We don't really live in a world where truth is cherished (or even matters). It's hard work and extremely uncomfortable to challenge your own beliefs (much less those of others). A few posts ago, I linked a great comic by The Oatmeal about belief, which I urge you to go read. And now, take the Kierkegaard's concept above, and it seems pretty easy to explain what is happening in our world.
Vonnegut's granfalloons are another way to explain human nature. If you aren't familiar, it is essentially what it is called when a group of people identify with each other based off of inconsequential and irrelevant details. For instance, liking the same book or TV show, being a fan of the same musician or sports team, and most dangerously to free thought, subscribing to a political or religious ideology. Or nationalism. I am not saying that politics and religion are inherently bad. But the phenomenon that occurs, is that once the granfalloon is formed and its members are identified, it starts to look at others outside the granfalloon as "Other" and "enemy". It over-simplifies the defining characteristics of the Other in the same way it has over-simplified the defining characteristics of its own granfalloon. And then the arguing starts. Followed by words and acts of hatred. All based off of inconsequential details and connections that aren't really connections.
So, back to my latest crisis of faith. Like many others in the country right now, I am gravely concerned about what is going on in the world, in our country, in our discourse, and just basically in the way in which we treat each other. Whatever is going on politically is not working. And yet each side argues that it's the other's fault (because there are only two sides in the U.S.; by the way, a fallacy of false alternatives occurs whenever only two options present themselves, when in reality, there are many more available). Each side holds the entire populace hostage in its adherence to its identified ideology. This is not a new problem, meaning it is not solely the fault of the current administration. I'd argue that we have the current administration as a direct result of the existence of this problem, which ironically, has amplified the problem to near unbearable levels.
The ideology holds certain values and certain things to be true, and they come as a package deal. If you claim to be a part of that granfalloon, then you have to hold all of those values and beliefs. After that, critical thought and empathy go out the window. All you have to do is go down the check boxes to see where you are supposed to fall on an issue. Problem is, as over-complicated as we like to make life, this approach is too simple. There's no nuance. The ideology supersedes the individuals of which it is comprised. The individual is no longer represented. It's why lifelong Democrats are pissed and disappointed in their own party, and why Republicans have split into different factions over the past decade or so.
If you're starting to think the solution is sounding like a path to becoming a Libertarian, I explored that too. Problem is, for every Libertarian you meet, you will either find another set of dogmas, or you will find drastically different shades of Libertarian. All will claim to be the only right way. There's a lot to admire in the ideology of the Libertarian, but at best it is an unrealistic thought experiment; an ideal that ironically only works if everyone were Libertarian (which is antithesis to its core tenet of individual freedom). It elevates the individual so much that it is hard to square with any kind of compassionate belief system. It ignores the social contract, and by extension social determinants that foster inequality. It ignores that the free market is a nice idea, but that in reality, will not exist because of inequality; because those already with power and money will almost always do whatever it takes to keep it--and since we live in a world with limited resources, that means others will continue to go without. We can't realistically end all suffering, but I fail to see how the Libertarian ideology won't simply devolve into Might Makes Right. Either that, or Libertarians are really optimistic about human nature.
We have to treat each other better. We have to develop empathy. We need to enter into meaningful discourse. We need to learn from each other, and listen. Hearts and minds are not changed (in a positive way) by violence. That just leads to fear and more violence. And fear is a tool to keep people from actual liberty.
It might sound stupid, but I always think about the Federation from Star Trek. In this fictional thought experiment, not only have different nations overcome their different ideologies, but different planets, races, species have aligned for the betterment of all. So whenever I see Nationalism rising back up in the U.S. rhetoric, in European countries wanting to leave the EU; when I see borders becoming more important than globalism, those things are a step backwards from the potential future we are shown in Star Trek.
You can't stop progress. Technology. An international global economy. Outdated manufacturing and other diminishing blue collar jobs are not coming back. Desperately trying to hold onto to ideologies of the past, be they religious, anti-science and technology, socioeconomic, or simply not being able to get over that different kinds of people are actually people is only going to prolong everyone's suffering.
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