This versus that

In recent posts, I have documented the negative effects of both unfettered capitalism and fundamentalist religiosity. However several questions immediately spring to mind in the face of this data. While the US is hampered by social problems of far greater magnitude than similarly advanced democracies in Europe, one also cannot escape the fact that innovation in science and technology is also much more common in America. Is there something about either the religiosity or economics of this country that account for this? More people suffer in the US, yet we also see constant advances that lead to things like, well, the ability to transmit this dialogue globally and instantly via the internet. So there seems to be a tradeoff between social stability and emotional and economic security with so-called progress. It is very likely that both factors of religion and economics do indeed play a role in this.

On one hand, many Americans believe it is their manifest destiny to be great and rule the world. This certainly drives many to accomplish the new and different rather than be satisfied with the more mundane comforts of life. And the economics of the US also mean that if one does not strive to succeed in every way imaginable, you have a very high likelihood of living a miserable life of debt, poor health and violence. But is there some point of moderation where the best of both worlds can be had. I am reminded of one of President Clinton's mantras. He often said that if you worked hard and played by the rules, you deserved a good life. In other words, he opposed a social safety net to protect ne'er do wells, but insisted that those who tried their best not end up on the street. And of course, those were boom times for America. Many leftists like to deride Clinton as a republican lite, but perhaps he really had it right all along. Moderation in everything is really the key. Neither laissez faire nor socialism can achieve the twin goals of peace and prosperity, so it must be something in between.

As for religiosity, this must be distinguished from spirituality. To have a sense of awe at the universe and even to believe in a higher power is probably hard wired into the human brain. It serves an important purpose in bonding members of a tribe to something greater and likely played an important role in human evolution. However we are now a global world and the evolutionary advantage of belief within small isolated tribes has been transformed into endless war over dogma between nation-states. Whether one believes in the transcendent reality of spirit or not, it is clear that dogmatic and fundamentalist belief systems only cause harm when they are used to try and control those of differing views in pluralistic world. There is also considerable evidence that human consciousness can be altered by prayer and meditation in positive ways. It is only when these acts of faith or practice are controlled by a hierarchical priesthood that spirituality degenerates into the tyranny and demagoguery of religiosity. It must be understood that a secular world is not a world without a place for spirituality. It is world where that is a private matter and we can come together in the public square on the only common ground we all have, which is allegiance to shared civil values. It is these shared civil values that ended centuries of religious based war in western europe. It is time the rest of the world heeds this lesson of history or we are doomed to repeat the horrors endlessly.