Yes, I am still around, and I do occasionally think of interesting things, I've just been really busy playing Candy Crush for a while... ;)
All kidding aside, I finally decided to write something down because a) I find myself with a little spare time this evening, and b) it occurs to me that perhaps not everyone (of the age of majority) in Canada knows that they are indeed participating in a social contract and what that entails.
Thomas Hobbes wrote a good book about the idea of a social contract a few hundred years ago. It was called Leviathan; famous for it's rather quotable idea (often misquoted) that life 'in a state of nature is... nasty, brutish and short':
In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, not culture of the earth, no navigation, nor the use of commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.[5]Rousseau later wrote a book called (oddly enough) The Social Contract. Both excellent works as far as I'm concerned.
To save you the effort of reading them (I know you're busy too), I'll sum up: in order to enjoy a life free from the constant anxiety found in a state of nature (i.e. free from worry that your neighbour will rise up against you at any time for any reason; free to pursue your pursuits, whatever they may be; free to actually walk around freely, without undue fear) society needed to get together and come up with some kind of agreement. An agreement that would allow us to feel safe in our homes. An agreement that it was indeed not cool to attack your neighbour just because you wanted some of the stuff in her house. An agreement that society could be and should be civilized and that we, as citizens of that society, should work together for the greater good.
Clearly I am paraphrasing A LOT. And obviously, I've left out a lot about their discussions regarding government and personal liberties etc., but the essence of a social contract is that we, the people participating in the social contract, agree to do so willingly, for the greater good (our safety and our betterment is included in this greater good too). And that we give up certain things in exchange for the security the social contract affords us. Things like the freedom to kill others willy-nilly, or steal their stuff.
So what is this greater good you ask? I'm glad you asked! Hobbes mentions some things in the quote above. Arts, letters (written works), society itself, commerce, exploration, (and I'm going further here now) advancements in technology, education, medicine. This list could go on ad infinitum. Essentially the greater good is that which is good for humankind, that which is good for the advancement of the species: our species. US. All of us. You and me.
One of the reasons that I've been thinking about the the idea of the social contract lately is that we, as a society, seem to have forgotten the idea of a greater good. I don't know whether or not you've noticed this, but it seems to me that we have become incredibly self-absorbed. To some degree it may be that we just aren't as polite as we used to be but even beyond that, it's as though nothing else matters but us. You could call it self-absorbed-ness (I know, that's not a word).
Everyone with access to the internet seems to think that he or she is an expert on something (or everything) and that everyone else in the world needs to know this and should join in (read: follow his or her example). There is a ridiculous ad being shared on the interwebs by Similac that is supposed to remind us (well, mothers I think) that despite our differences, we all have the same goals, but it really just serves to remind us how extreme we've become in our know-it-all-ness (again, I know it's not a word) and our self-absorbed-ness. We are so busy surfing the web and trying to tell other people how great we are that we lose sight of what's really important: the greater good.
There's that term again! What is up with that?!? Well, when we're parents, the greater good is raising our children and everything that goes into that. But then of course, everyone is an expert on that too: no one agrees on anything, and everyone does their own thing which does no one any good, least of all the children; who, as Whitney Houston told us, are our future. I jest only slightly. I really do believe that raising children is a very serious responsibility. It's why I haven't chosen to do it: I would probably mess it up. Before any of you think I'm being judge-y about parents, I'm not: I admire people who are creating our future. It is a tough job raising children, and, as is evidenced by that commercial, lots of people are always judging you as a parent. It is always easier to criticize than to create.
I think one of the reasons that parents in particular seem to have forgotten 'the greater good' is that there is SO much involved in being a parent. People want to do the best they can. They want to provide the best life they can for their kids; they want to make sure their kids are as best prepared for the big scary world (which we know from Thomas Hobbes can be nasty, brutish and short) as they can be. They want to protect them from it for as long as they can, and they want to make sure that they are not hurt by it in any way. Unfortunately, this is impossible. No one is perfect. Life is not perfect. Life is not fair. You are never going to prevent your child from ever getting hurt ever; no matter how much research you do. Regardless of how much you love them and how hard you try: you can't always protect them from everything. They have to live in this world.
But in our efforts to protect our children from the nasty brutish world, we seem to have lost sight of why we have a social contract in the first place. Of course our instincts have always been to protect our children (it's why vaccines were developed in the first place), and now that most of us have never seen first hand what life in a developing nation is like, we have no idea the privilege we've been granted by our ancestors who first created the social contracts which enabled the societies we live in today.
As a result of social contracts, we, Canadians, enjoy one of the best standards of living in the world. (I know, I've seen the discrepancies.) With very few exceptions: we have hot and cold running water in our homes; we have national highways and railways from coast to coast to coast. We have an airline that flies coast to coast to coast. We have phone service all over the country. (And we take all of this for granted: not everyone can get anywhere in their country easily, or phone anyone from anywhere.) We have universal healthcare (granted it's a little broken, but if you're having a heart attack, you'll be taken care of). We have universal public education (again, not perfect, but it's pretty good and it's covered by your taxes). We have labour laws. We have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We have the right (obligation) to elect our own government, and the right to complain about it. These are just the basics; we have world class universities, museums, hospitals, and there is so much more, too much to list. Compare all of this to life in Hobbes's state of nature: we would have none of that if no one ever thought beyond what was best for him or herself (or their children).
So what is the actual greater good? I'm sure people would debate that too. A little bit of knowledge (and access to Google) can be a dangerous thing.
My short definition of the greater good is the advancement of humankind; not at any cost mind you, but overall. I know that's easy for me to say when I have no children. I know that your life changes completely when you have a child and that nothing else seems to be very important anymore (this seems to hold true for people in my life anyway).
From a slightly distanced perspective (i.e. not a parent) it seems to me that the more import we put on ourselves and our children (i.e. the good of the one or few over the good of the many) the closer we get to being back in a state of nature.
I don't want to live like that. Do you?
If we've learned anything from Star Trek, it's that Spock is usually right and that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.
Until next time, drive safe!
Lesley
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