An Explanation Better Than 42. (Part 2)

The divide between our social and individual selves and our evolution as a community has been essential to our survival and our propagation across the globe.  The evolution of human societies has far outstripped that of the individuals that comprise it, largely because societies are not shackled by the biological limitations that govern the evolution of the species: paradigms are easier to grow than an extra digit.  Of course there are vestigial appendages, analogous to the appendix, such as religion and racism but, if we can survive the next fifty years, these will eventually disappear.

So how does the individual/social dynamic manifest itself in the real world?  If we look at the most salient representatives of each, far right religious and secular humanists, we can see ample illustration of the two camps.  The far right religious, although they cloak themselves in the social mantle of church groups, service clubs, and women’s auxiliaries, use socialization as a vehicle for status, influence, and power.  (Now I realize that I am tarring people with a broad brush, but I am referring to the way the group manifests itself rather than any particular individual.)  Those who are totally invested in this group spurn the paying of their fair share of taxes, oppose ‘outsiders’, see themselves as guardians of the dominant culture, festoon themselves with material goods, and defend traditional institutions and values.  They are the bastion of rugged individualism and self indulgence.

On the other hand, secular humanists are cut from a different cloth.  As a group they tend to protect the marginalized, advocate for the maintenance and growth of the public good, see religion as an impediment to human growth, and show genuine concern for their environment and a sustainable economy.  The groups that they gravitate towards, when they do step out of their tendency to spurn hierarchies, center around protest, humanitarian aid, protection of reproductive rights, and civil rights. Where a rightist doctor might join a country club, a secular humanist doctor might opt for Doctors Without Borders.  They spurn charity in favour of social justice.  

continued