Posted by
CKHustler on Thursday, June 23, 2011 10:44:02 PM
It struck me today the basic reason humanity can never prosper if we must live with a shared sacrifice. I am reading Atlas Shrugged currently and this definitely influenced my thought process, so some of you may recognize where this came from.
At the point where shared sacrifice becomes the norm, a human can have only one of two possible reactions. Either he decides that he will work for his fellow man or he will live off his fellow man. The third choice of relieving himself of all responsibility one way or another is not a viable option in the real world (John Galt cannot exist).
If given the choice, what would you do? Would you work harder so that any person, strong or weak, lazy or hardworking, could benefit from you? Would you work even harder to make sure that Jimmy down the block can buy a new pair of sneakers? This question of what you would do is not only asked of you personally, but every single person in society. Even if a mere minority decides they will live off their fellow man, the society would breakdown. If you saw that Jimmy down the block was not working and was instead depending on you for his money, would you spend the extra time and work for his sneakers now? It is impossible for all of mankind to choose to work for his fellow man rather than living off of them. Since that is an impossibility, a minority, no matter how small, would cause a complete collapse of the system. It is like a spreading disease when a group or even a single person decides he will survive by the work of another. Once a single person starts, others will see and join and the epidemic has begun. Why work when you can enjoy life on the labor of another?
Society will continue without a major hitch until a breaking point is reached, which is not static nor predictable. Some have said here on TH that 50% of voters not paying income taxes would be the breaking point and that is true politically in my opinion, yet society will continue beyond that point, though there is no return trip. Without a majority of people reeling in the leaders of any society, it will continue down the path of destruction. This all barring a revolution, which can happen with a minority as history has taught us with no less than our own independence.
As you can see, regardless of whether a majority of man is moral or virtuous or however you would like to phrase the buzz word, man cannot survive with a society of shared sacrifice. I have often said that if man were machines, a communist society would work best, but alas we are not and we have feelings, emotions, ambitions and other attributes that make it unworkable and destructive to the world.
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke