The unavoidable selfishness

[Continued from here.]

People tend to give the minimum effort always. We look for our own interests and act in the way it's most convenient. We try to brake the rules (rather than debate them in a civilized way), impose ourselves before others, let others take the blame for our actions, "streetwise-ness", etc. You feel good when you get away with it.

You must always be one step ahead. You must always protect yourself, since they wouldn't care whatever happens to you. Unfairness, bullying, crime, etc., they are all manifestations of the same thing. It's funny how people criticize politicians, and yet they act the same sneaky way in their everyday life.

Egoism is often understood to be a consequence of our finitude. Since life is short, we want to have as many things as possible while we're alive. Therefore, it can't be helped. No one is saying egoism is bad or good, it simply is. Your actions (even the altruistic ones) somehow benefit yourself, otherwise you wouldn't be doing them.

The truth is, if people don't care about something, they'll never put any effort in it. What an individual considers important can only be decided by the individual himself. So, what should you do? On one hand, you should only care for yourself. On the other hand, you can't live alone; thus, you must understand what people close to you consider important and work based on that. Or, you can just continue not giving a shit, since that's what everyone always does.

Friedrich Nietzsche - The Death of God/The Last Man

With Modernism, religion had been displaced. God could no longer explain anything. Nietszche called this "The Death of God". We have killed God, no one can tell us what we should do, we can't assure what's right. What now? Do we get lost?

Nietzsche had always criticized society. He accuses us of being conformists: we no longer yearn for anything, we only search our safety. Why is longevity a virtue? Nietzsche called this "Last Man". The Last Man denies God's death and tries to hide behind new Gods, such as the State or money. He's always looking for excuses to not exert his freedom.

"One no longer becomes poor or rich; both are too burdensome. Who still wants to rule? Who still wants to obey? Both are too burdensome. (...) Every one wants the same; every one is equal: he who has other sentiments goes voluntarily into the madhouse." - From Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Nietzsche wants us to accept our weaknesses, our contradictions, and stop denying our freedom. Sure, it's easier said than done. Yet, what I take from this is the importance of taking decisions. You can think a lot of things, but you are only defined by your actions.

The Replacements - Alex Chilton

If you liked this, try Can't Hardly Wait or Bastards of Young.

Karl Marx - Historical Materialism

Historians in Marx's time thought that any human civilization could be explain by the products of the Spirit/the mind; this means arts, religion, politics, philosophy, humanities, etc. Marx said that, since men are work, the only thing that explains any civilization is the material or living conditions of working men. Society consists of the base/infrastructure (this is, the work) and an ideological superstructure (the intellectual stuff).

The base consists of two parts: productive forces and relations of production. Productive forces mean workers/proletariat, technologies, sciences, tools; everything used for working. Relations appear when you have somebody owning the tools or technologies. These are the relationships built around production (for instance, owner and worker). Marx stated that productive forces evolve faster than the relations.

An example of this would be the music industry nowadays, and their position on downloading songs for free. We have the technology to be able to produce our own songs and distribute them online for almost no price, and yet record companies want to charge you for downloading, instead of thinking of other ways of making income (like concerts, merchandizing, I don't know). The thing is, relations of production evolve slowly because, if they change, it means people with power will lose it.

When the productive forces have evolved so much the relations become a burden, something called "revolution" occurs, which makes the relations change and History moves forward. This is what Marx called Historical Materialism, since it depends on the material conditions of the workers.

Karl Marx - The Concept of Alienation

Marx stated that men are work. Work refers to the fact that we can produce our own means of subsistence. Men are social by nature since it's the only way we work.

What happens when men are separated from the product of their work? This was the case in Marx's time, the time when the industrial revolution had just happened. The living conditions of the working class were very bad, and the rich men exploited them. Think of Oliver Twist or Les Misérables. Men were paid the minimum amount of money so that they could continue living and keep on working.

The problem with capitalism is that it produces more wealth but for less people. The proletariat (this means, the person who owns nothing but his labor force) receives nothing from his work, despite the fact that men are work! Complement this with an involuntary division of labor and you have a very miserable life. This is what Marx called alienation.

It should be noted, to clear up some controversy, that Marx never actually proposed a solution. He died before he could explain "communism". What happened during the 20th century is far from Marx's view, since he clearly stated that there should be no State/no one superior. He just wanted us to work happily. More about Marx on my next post!