What follows is what I believe to be the crisis of modernity. We trace the origins of what is going today and what each of us can do about it. If you care nothing about my process or how I arrived at this idea, skip to the paragraph titled “Arriving at the Crisis of Modernity”.
Something is off
Do you have a sense that something is off? Something not quite right? Disjointed, like there is a rift in space? Confused, bewildered, and even, lost? Does the world feel topsy-turvy, like there is no firm foundation? Seems like no matter what happens, things get worse and we, as a whole, lose. So much coming so fast that it is hard to make sense of the world.
Individually, have you experienced the feeling that no matter how much money you make, no matter the outward success, something is still lacking? Perhaps these are only glimpses, but you have definitely felt that this can’t be all there is. Do you feel a broader, deeper look to get to the essence, the heart of matters?
Path to a different view
That was me several years ago. I’ve been on a quest for over a decade to figure out what makes nations and people successful, though I didn’t realize it at the time. I just knew I was looking for something I could not find. Searching for something without even understanding what or why. At that point, I was not sure about a problem or that I was searching for a solution just a vague notion that both me and the world felt off.
I kept joining this or that group in the hopes of finding answers. I worked hard and was promoted several times at my job. There was undoubtedly a very decent life ahead of him, with everything taken care of to a large extent. Something was still off.
Prosperity only goes so far
I made decent money, had a decent car, decent house that I owned, I had at which you have enough to live comfortably. To have what you want to a great extent. I was social and had all these friends, which was fun, but again, it just could not fill this void.
Something didn’t feel right, not only on a personal level, but also when I looked out into the world. I was lost after playing the blame game and seeing the flaws on both sides. I drank excessive amounts of alcohol without ultimate satisfaction but with a heck of a lot of pain.
Next, I went through what I can only describe as a nihilistic existential crisis. I cannot say I wanted to die necessarily, but I certainly felt there was no point to living. It felt like floating alone in a vast ocean, listless, like being out to sea with no hope of arrival.
There must be more
There just had to be more to this life. Some purpose, something! There had to be more than working these jobs, these pointless, soul-destroying jobs to buy things. These things—the stuff, ever so much stuff—that we quickly lose interest in, and then it’s onto the next thing. Stuff including things like obsessively watching the news, getting angered by the news, buying cars, planning tattoos, playing video games, collecting objects, going on trips, seeing things, meeting people, fancy dinners, fancy evenings, fancy people, glittering buildings with glittering things, all so glittering.
At some point, we just move from one temporary high to the next. We justify whatever it is that satisfies our particular craving with sometimes elaborate reasoning. At times, we may just fool ourselves. In the end, none of this provides deep, meaningful satisfaction. A satisfaction that cannot be, must not be, a tank of gas, always on the verge of needing to be filled again.
A long journey
I wanted more, and nothing I did, read, or saw provided what I sought. I traced whatever was being said or what I saw in the world to its core and found that so much of our world is superficial. A thumbnail scratch, and you reach the bottom. There was nothing I could find that had that deeper meaning, save my kids.
I wondered why this was so. Why is this massive edifice just smoke and mirrors with nothing substantial behind it? How can so many go through the motions without realizing how fake it all is? I had these vague ideas but no direction. It was out there, but I could not grasp it or define it, but I developed this sense that something had gone wrong.
It was a long journey indeed. What I have discovered is that we are living in a period of crisis. It is the crisis of modernity and there is not a single group unaffected by this on earth.
I found culprits in many places
As I attempted to find the source of the disjointed nature of modernity, I started blaming this or that person, group, party, and so on. I traced notions or ideas to their roots, explored all aspects, being open to whatever was found. I did this until I reached a core. Using William James’s idea of knowledge that there are no “settled” truths. There has never been a time when someone could say “From this point, no further”.
List of groups or people I blamed for our problems:
Republicans, Democrats, conservative radio and media, liberal media, academia, and the baby boomers in the United States, the baby boomers in Western Civilization, hippies, the US Government, Not enough democracy, too much democracy, plutocracy, lobbyists and corporations, the wealthy, Martin Luther and the Reformation, wealth and prosperity without a serious foe, entitled millennials and younger generations, softness, weakness, weakness in the people, weakness in its leaders, incoherent foreign and domestic policies, free market economics, socialist economics, stupid ignorant red-staters, arrogant elitist liberals, and on and on.
Each of these and more contributed in their own way, but not one of them constituted the single cause or reason. Some are surely more culpable than others but none can be said to be directly responsible unfortunately. Unfortunately, I wish it were that simple, but it’s not. There is so much nuance—far more than fifty shades of gray.
Arriving at the crisis of modernity
As I progressed, things became clear. I realize I was searching for a solution to the crisis of modernity. I did not have the label “crisis” for many years. Nor did I realize that it was a crisis impacting modernity. I kept thinking that I had a natural interest in history, but soon realized I was really interested in how people became successful. What made this country, this group of people successful.
I discovered that this was not something impacting one group, one people, one nation, or even one civilization. While I believe it is felt more acutely in the West, it is a crisis of modernity for the planet. Whomever, wherever you are, this crisis is coming at you like a freight train barreling over all you know.
What I discovered was that the problems are fundamental. Who we are as humans is the basis of our civilization as it adjusts to such rapid changes. This was predicted by many people in the past. Especially Nietzsche, who realized the calamity that would ensue by destroying the Old World and its foundations. Science and technology not only do not satisfy as previous solutions did, but they also have their own inherent problems.
Three Crises
America is experiencing a triple confluence of events. One crisis is unique to the U.S., one is shared with the West, and one with all nations.
First, any nation starting out always begins with a certain vigor, a certain spirit which animates it and sets it on a course. In America’s case, that course led to greatness. The problem is that eventually, this spirit peters out and becomes stale as successive generations lose touch with the original spark. What was once the driving force behind the success of the nation morphs and is distorted, becoming the force behind its strife and problems. For America, the “marble cake” of numerous competing interests was a great strength and is now a great weakness.
Passage about ancient empires
Confucius called this dynastic decline, Polybius was widely influential with his theory of the six natural cycles of government which he adapted from Aristotle. Many authors from their day to present including the American founding fathers had a concept of the cyclical nature of governments.
In the book, The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty, Albert Chan quotes a passage at length about the similarity in the history of Eastern monarchies: “they were always at the peak of their power immediately after an invasion. In Egypt, India, Persia, and China alike, the foundation of an empire, or its renewed expansion, followed on the infusion of new blood and the emergence of a great barbarian leader from some neighboring nomad tribe. The people, having lost all fighting spirit, under rulers enfeebled by luxurious court life, found themselves helpless in the face of the invading force. The conquerors in turn, though strong at first, were absorbed by the civilization of the vanquished. Little by little they too lost their vigor and their martial spirit. Thus foreign dynasties nearly all ended in the same way. When faced with a revolt of native brigands or an invasion by a vigorous barbarian race, these effete descendants of the earlier conquerors were found to have become as feeble as their own subjects; they were then swept away as rapidly as their ancestors had arrived.”
Destruction of the basis of value
Second, Western Civilization gutted itself of values, virtues, and ethics. In finding that Aristotle and others, including the Catholic Church, were wrong is many aspects, they cast it all aside. The West removed all the glue holding it together, undermining the fabric at the very time it was most necessary.
Science and technology left morality in the dust
Third, simultaneously, Western nations unleashed industrial forces with science and technology, bringing unfathomable wealth and prosperity. As many writers, such as Montesquieu, have mentioned, commerce has a down side. The progress achieved via scientific and technological advances came so rapidly that the emotional and moral side of humanity did not keep pace.
We have no idea what to do with ourselves
We are not in danger of going below subsistence or invasion by a foreign threat. Economic forces bequeathed to all of us a a bountiful harvest of prosperity. Now that humans have achieved these levels, we have no guide, no model to show us how to use these amazing gifts.
We don’t know what to do with ourselves. As a result, we are vulnerable to those who exploit our primal instincts such as greed, lust, gluttony, rage, fear, jealousy, and so on.
We eliminated all aspects of society that provided us with guidance on how to live our lives. The institutions were removed from our culture that would have given us an ethical or moral framework.
We distracted ourselves…until now
People such as Karl Marx saw this and felt that, with their own particular understanding of the world, this would destroy itself. No one predicted the immense power of consumer and material culture. For a while, we were able to produce goods in such a variety and on such a scale that it kept us all distracted.
However, matters have now come to a head, and this cannot sustain us. Just like Agent Smith in The Matrix describing the first version as perfect, but humans kept trying to wake up from what was clearly a simulated existence. We are now trying to wake up from this superficial world.
they were a virus, defined by suffering.
Reignite the fire
The sad thing is that, in solving the crisis of modernity, we cannot go back in time. That world is over. There has never been a case where you could go back to before things broke down and make them better.
What we are doing is not working. Every proposed solution to a problem is more of the same. These answers are derivations and permutations of previous concepts, all based exclusively within the current system. A system that is now in great need of a kickstart, a jump, a reignition.
An authority of last appeal
The solution is that we need a final arbiter; a final authority that we all agree is such an authority. We do not have this today and this is the reason all debates end poorly.
Next, we need a conception of the species type human in an Aristotelean sense. Study of the species reveals its intent and purpose, from which we deduce what constitutes a healthy species. We cannot proceed without a definition of what a human being is and what the attributes of a healthy, successful human are.
What makes a human “healthy”
For example: all mammals have an agreed upon ideal size and socialization. Not that all will be that size or will be the alpha type, but we can judge all based on that ideal type. If a mammal is woefully undersized, we will know that something is off and can take the necessary measures to bring it to its healthy state. However, if we cannot agree in general terms on what a healthy human is, then any remedy for a human will be nothing more than an opinion, however cloaked.
All successful societies agree on basic things
Everything flows from these basic tenets. We have to agree on humanity. From this flow morals, ethics, and virtues, which, in turn, form the institutions on which we base civilization. From this, we gain the authority of last resort, from which there is no appeal.
That ultimate arbiter who stands above the fray. Who possesses a generally accepted foundation. God, the gods, Aristotle, Confucius, and Plato and others previously filled this role. The Chinese emperors filled this void at different times, with Wan-Li being an example.
Having an ultimate authority who is credible for all is necessary, as there are always competing groups with different ideas. In the Middle Ages, one could appeal to the local lords, the clergy, or Aristotle, and that would settle most issues.
A new final arbiter
The removal of the final arbiter. The loss of agreement on generally accepted fundamentals is the defining issue of our time. Not that it was unnecessary to reform those institutions, but that, like all reform, it went too far. Many reformers do not see the good aspects of what they get rid of. They bring it all down without thinking of the consequences. It is not, nor has it been, a single issue or party in power. It is not being left, right, or perpendicular; it’s about basic fundamentals of our lives.
My Quest
This is my contention. This is my theory. What you have read forms the basis of what I do and what one can expect from The Different View. Solving the Crisis of Modernity is the sole purpose of all content. The solution is not surface level like a major legislative program.
We cannot solve the Crisis of Modernity by striking at branches. Branches, which seem like the root that will cure all but as you know, never does. Branches that are quite deceptive in the heat of the moment. A major thrust of the Different View is differentiating the roots from the branches.
One Last Thing
This is not for those looking to confirm their own opinions or get detailed analysis of the latest breaking story. It is not for those who do not like different opinions or perspectives. Has there ever been a theory or idea that was 100% correct for all time?
Neither of us will always hit the mark accurately. Part of having a truly different view is accepting that you don’t know everything and that you can’t possibly know everything. William James held that there is no finished or settled knowledge. Knowledge today is the best available but not finished by any means.
Summary
- There is something off in our world
- The problem is not surface level but much deeper
- Hard to find the problem as many things masquerade as “the” problem but are branches
- Must correctly separate branches from roots – Ex. Daily headlines rarely contain the roots
- It is easy to fail into blaming this or that person, group, or thing. Problem is deeper
- Problem is three fold: Natural Decline, Rapid advance of Science and Technology, and removal of all institutions providing ethical and moral frameworks
- All nations decay. The original American drive has petered out and needs reignition
- Western Civilization created mass wealth and prosperity and rapid advances in science and tech and our moral, mental states were left far behind
- At the same of mass growth in wealth and science, we cast aside anything which told us what to do with the repaid advances and new found prosperity
- We do not know what to do what do with our freedom and prosperity making us susceptible to anything that comes along
- We need a final arbiter authority that we all agree on – Previously this was the Gods, God, Aristotle, Plato, Science etc…
- We need a commonly accepted definition for what a human is
- When we agree on what a human is, then we can agree what the ideal healthy human looks like
- We can create institutions to support that
- It all flow from fundamentals just like coaches the world over preach until blue in the face