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19 Feb 2008 @ 09:45, by John Grieve
Core of Civilised Society
It was the view of Marx and Engels that the core of civilized society was the state. I think that there is some truth in this, but would like to suggest that the state is the tip of a pyramid/hierarchy in the same way that the tip of an iceberg connects to a much larger pyramid. In other words it is the top section of a pyramid which is relatively small at the apex but which stretches right down to the base of society.
The main function of this pyramid is to channel resources (both human and material) from the bottom of the structure towards the top, and to channel control and coercion from the top to the bottom. I believe this is self-evidently true. The recent disasters last year in New Orleans, Indian Ocean Tsunami and Kashmir earthquake, clearly show that this pyramid/hierarchy just does not operate effectively in the opposite direction. It is almost impossible for the state to channel large amounts of resources from the top to the bottom of society. Hence the woeful inadequacies of relief in times of disasters. In ordinary times bureaucracies an barely cope with trying to provide resources from the top downwards or from the centre outwards.
In other words the pyramid is like a hoover which sucks up resources in the form of taxes and profits and channels them from the many to the few. This is the way it has always worked in civilised society, despite pious intentions to redistribute wealth to the many from the few.
Levels of Society
(1) Psycho/Spiritual
Our Psyche and Soul. Which I also equate with what Jung and Freud called the Id or Unconscious. The other psychic mechanism, the Ego, would be the equivalent to the State (in society).
Identity and individuality are key and central to this level of being. More on this later.
(2) Economics
After the personal level of psyche and spirit this is the most free level of our being and involves both personal and social aspects. Economics involves trading and production of goods and services. The alienated forms are commodities and money.
(3) Society/ Social
As we move up the levels we go from greater to less individuality. We go from individuals, to small groups and finally large groups such as classes. Basically this is about all the groups we belong to in society: Family groups based on kinship such as Tribes, clans and families. Educational groups such as schools and colleges we have attended. Occupational groups and professional ones. Finally the class we belong to or identify with. Then there are interest groups and associations based on beliefs, hobbies or identities. All these groups make up civil society.
(4) Political/The State
In a civil society the use of force or coercion is monopolised and controlled by the state. The people who control the state are termed the rulers. Politics is the competition between different groups for control of the state, which gives them the ability to make the rules which apply to the whole of society, which rules direct and control what is considered the legitimate use of force, which rules are usually termed Laws.
Naturally as we rise up the levels of the civilised society we are going from greater to less freedom. Our greatest freedom is in our own spirit, then our psyche (our personal life) then our economic relationships. As we proceed up the levels we encounter resistances to our free behaviour. In the form of prejudices, customs, rules, laws and physical coercion, repression.
(5)Military/The Army
Basically the state in civil society is based on the monopoly of the use of force or coercion. There is a contradiction here because as Gandhi said, the only truly ethical action is a voluntary one. So, by compelling others to do what we want them to do, whether for their benefit or our own, we inevitably engender corruption of ourselves and others. The state’s use of coercion is the source of vast corrupting influences, and often takes the form of rampant financial irregularities in bureaucratic and ruling (power) elites.
Civilization and Madness
It is generally recognised that tribal societies suffer less from mental illnesses than civilized societies. I will now try to briefly explain this fact. It is well known that hysteria began soon after the imposition of repressive forms of monogamous marriage on women at the beginning of civilization. Other forms of social control repressive to women only reinforced this tendency to fight back against male dominance.
It is interesting that hysteria, though it has many different forms, is basically a sort of dissociation of the personality. And dissociation is of course connected with alienation. It is not surprising that early psychiatrists were called “alienists”.
Schizophrenia, though more characteristic of capitalist societies than feudal, is also a form of dissociation. So it seems clear that mental illness is a form of alienation.
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Category: Articles
1 comment
7 Apr 2008 @ 12:56 by democritus : YES!
While not in agreement with the way the things you describe, I understand that is the way it is.
At FSP, we have talked quite a deal on how to properly restructure things. The tribal model seems superior in many ways for modern man (with many changes of course, we need to make more then spears and throwing devices these days).
One thing that struck me was Maslow's Hierarchy of NEEDS. Apply this to a society. At the bottom would be "survival" needs. Sanitation, food, etc. Then the higher levels would include love, esteem, societal actualization.
Instead of lumping PEOPLE into those hierarchies, design the society to best facilitate them. The reason "survival" is at the base of the pyramid is that these things must exist for the higher order stuff to occur on a social level, JUST like the personal pyramid.
I may expand further on this later on our newslog. I really agree with many of your points, and keep up the good work!
Captain Obvious
Other entries in Articles
3 Jun 2008 @ 09:12: Phi, the Pentagon and Self-Similarity
23 Apr 2008 @ 09:25: Pascal's Triangle, Self-similarity and Phi
13 Apr 2008 @ 09:47: Phi is the constant of Self-Similarity
9 Apr 2008 @ 09:25: CyberEnlightenment, "Political Correctness" and Fascism
7 Apr 2008 @ 10:59: Dialectical Analysis of the Sudoku Puzzle
29 Mar 2008 @ 09:32: The Social Unconscious,Civilization and Sexuality
25 Mar 2008 @ 10:01: Book of Aphorisms and Commonplaces
3 Mar 2008 @ 12:50: Taoism and Confucianism : Part II
3 Mar 2008 @ 12:47: Taoism And Confucianism: Part I
24 Feb 2008 @ 09:25: Fermat's Last Theorem
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