For simplicity, I will say it is the Perfection of the State, versus the Perfection of the Individual.
Our thought leaders SHOULD think long term. We can and should ask about the long term affects on human well being of consumerism, of technology, of automation, of our financial system. And of other processes not popping immediately to mind.
What I would stipulate is that the most important human task in all ages, but particularly in our own, is self regulation, and very specifically the ability to achieve relaxation, calmness and inner peace. We say inner peace as if it is a mystery, but in my view it is in large measure–perhaps entirely–the ability to manage tension within the body, and the ability to accept entirely a myth as true, one which binds you to others.
And when I say myth, I mean something, to coin a term, “Uebertrue”, something which goes very deep. I do not mean an untruth. We need groups, we need plans, we need campaigns, we need “wars”. This all seems to be true. And if it is true, why not be intelligent in how we collectively meet our individual needs?
As I have said, a collectivist is nothing without the collective. Individual moral growth is impossible.
But within a truly Liberal ethos, one based on the eminently reasonable and empirically valid notion that if large numbers of small systems become organized, that the collective will likewise become organized, the goal is individual growth, and in large measure my own work, on morality at least, has been oriented around developing the philosophy needed for this.
What I would now argue, in large measure, is that the body must be the beginning, the epicenter of a revival. Sensations lead to mythic images, lead to feelings, lead to thoughts. If we want new thoughts, a new order, a new beginning, we need to deal with the sensations of billions of people. This is possible, even if I can’t say at this moment how.
Dogmatism is a spasm of thought. This spasm is the lightning quick outcome of a feeling, which arises from an image, which arises from body “talk” that person simply cannot process, is not willing to process.
I will likely have more to say, but that will suffice. It’s Friday, most of my body hurts from a hard week, and I’m drinking again.