history
I wrote the other day that my universe was becoming historic. That as I have begun to outgrown the bondage of modern individualism, that I was gaining a sense of what it is to be an Americican, or more importantly what is to have been born into the the American tradition. As this is occuring however I can not help but look back at my past selves who are asking, “Have you sold yourself out? Of what value is history? Isn’t it all lies?” And I can not help but be disturbed the statement a freind made a few weeks back while I was explaining my love of Philosophy. She said, “I don’t like philosophy, or religion. It’s like learning that stuff in being brainwashed. It’s like destroying yourself.”
I suppose to some extent such statements are true. I can see how looking for truth in a Philosophy, or a Religion, or a History could quickly strip one of their identity. It is not uncommon that finding Jesus or Sartre or Liberalism turns one into a drone who simply spews the words of others, and it is unfortunate that so few people ever progress beyond their first encounter with dogmatic systems. My own experience has shown that if nothing else, understanding other modes of thought adds subtlties and delights to ones own choosen belief system.
But what of history? What of the river of apparitions and events which have brought us here? Brought you and I to this very word. What value does it hold? Are not events of the past totally disconnected from our current affairs? Of what value is knowlege about Romans to a person of modern times? To be honest, I think if you are just memorizing dates and events, there is probably little to no value in history. While the year 1776 is of great import not only to American but also World History, it does me little good to think if it merely as the year of the American revolution.
But there were things that happened that year from which the world can not escape. Not only did the authors of the Declaration of Independence formally declare that a the rights of an individual trump the rights of governments but Adam Smith released his master work “The Wealth of Nations” declaring that the value of an individual is tied to his capacity to produce wealth. These two mimes have driven all of western civilization. The rise of Fascism and of Communism are direct reactions against the individualist/capitalist ethic. Had there been no Thomas Jefferson, no Thomas Paine, no Adam Smith. There would have been no Stalin, no Hitler, no Mussolini. Communism was a reaction against Capitalism and Fascism a reaction against Liberalism in it entirety ( both economic and social ).
But knowing this still seems distant and maybe irrelevant does it not? The World Wars were such a long time ago. Sadly this is not so. Western Civilization is still recovering from World War 2. The Cold War which sprung out of it is only now beginning to give birth to it’s first child, globalization and if you look at the players in the globalization movement you fill find the dominant forces are England and America, the winners of World War 2.
But beyond the power of nations history has another more intimate effect upon our lives. Each person is born into a historical tradition, thier minds and the course of their lives are very much product of that tradition. If you are an American you very likely put great importance on your Individuality and your Freedom to do what you want when you want. You are more likely than a Christian. If you were born middle class or above you probably believe that hard work and honesty make men wealthy. If you are less than middle class you probably imbued with the suspicion that wealth is the product of some form or robbery. However if you are a member of a lower cast in India you are probably not concerned about nature of those in the Upper Casts at all ( well at least until England showed up ).
I suppose that in answer to the younger me I would have to reply that the individualism which you preach so animately is nothing more than the regurgitation of words given to you by somebody else, words of which you know very little. That in fact, your mindless adherence to individualism is nothing more than a mental prison. To say that I am a person is to say that I am a biological organism into which the competing mimes of the past have been infused. Whether those mimes are notions of individuality or spirituality or egalitarianism they are not my own, they are the ideas, beliefs and feelings of the tradition, (familiy, class and nation) into which I was born. It is not until understanding that tradition and it’s relation to others that I can hope to understand myself. Only then can I hope to trancend that tradition and truely become an individual.