Worldwide trends increasingly concern me. Perhaps my observations are distorted by my own narrative, so I share them to elicit your perspective.
A God’s eye view of the battlefield is my favorite positioning for discernment. What I see concerns me. On a horizontal axis I see a great polarizing effect coming from two camps: on one side I see people who view individuals as being elements of society, persons being defined by the group to which they belong; on the other side are those who view society as an aggregation of individuals united for the common good. The tension that results is a threat to break apart the bonds that formed our governments. This tension is occurring all around the world, not just in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, or Syria but also here in America.
On the vertical axis I see the rise of social networking caused by the advent of the World Wide Web versus the resistance to modernity. Progress juxtaposed with intransience creates another threatening tension. Moving along this axis is disintermediation and its converse. The elimination of “middlemen” in distribution also applies to information. The demise of middlemen and middle ground means that grass roots information has become readily linked to what used to be the sources of information. What we now see is the ability to instantly react to information, e.g. flash mobs, and the ability to cleverly manipulate the recipients of information. We have effectively eliminated the filters that had previously protected the recipients, gatherers, and disseminators of information; we no longer have the Walter Cronkite’s of the world giving us the straight scoop.
The tensions inherent in this battlefield scenario are sufficient to draw and quarter our world in much the same way as those convicted of high treason in medieval England. It behooves us to consider the consequence of present trends lest we encounter the same fate.
Tension: Individual versus Society
It is easy to find those individuals who seek their identity by belonging to some group. This is perhaps the single greatest contributor to crime in our cities as more youth choose to become part of gangs. It is observable in athletics and school spirit. As many of us grew older we transitioned from high school to college to employment being defined along the way by our education / vocation. When asked who someone was, the response was likely to be, “He/she is a student at ____.” Or, “He/she works at ____.” Eventually, that individual may be defined by their title, e.g. “President of ___”, or, “Parent of ___”.
Those persons choosing to be defined by a group, by necessity, subscribe to the philosophy, doctrine, and dictates of that group. When you listen to one of these individuals you hear repetition of phrases, talking points, and senseless prattle that shows their indoctrination. They behave as automatons clearly under the direction of a superior. I recently had a discussion with a labor union advocate who said that he was very comfortable following the party line since he had voted for his local representative, who had in turn elected a representative, all the way up the chain. He was content to follow the instructions from the top back down because they clearly had access to more information and made better decisions than he could with his limited exposure to issues.
Those who see the individuals as elements of society see the government’s role as one of assuring the individual’s conformation to the norms of society. Tolerance is obviously less for any deviation from the established norm. Some of the most visible examples come from governments derived from religious law, e.g. Taliban’s Sharia dominated Afghanistan. Our country has done similar things like establish blue laws to dictate the purchase of alcohol on Sunday. The difference between these two comes from the constitution and the protection it provides from the government being able to impose the will of the society upon the individual. In the case of blue laws the government breaks it down to the precinct level and empowers the majority in that limited area to decide what businesses, not individuals, may do. In America we would say that the business cannot sell alcohol but the Taliban would say that the individual could not drink.
Those who see society as an aggregation of individuals see government as providing for the common good. These are willing to pay their taxes, expect the government to provide the infrastructure for living, to protect its citizens, and establish the rules by which we get along with each other. As I like to put it – I expect to pay my taxes and I expect the government to build the roads, erect the guard rails, and even set the speed limits. But I want to drive my own car and go where I want to go. I do not want the government making me ride the bus and travel where they want to take me.
The philosophical differences along this horizontal axis have come to dominate the political scene, not just in America but around the world. The governments that are falling have not recognized that the individuals no longer want to be recognized as subjects of the king or subordinates of the state. Social networking has empowered and emboldened the individual.
Modernity versus Intransience
The true enemy of radical Islamic fundamentalism is not the west as they would proclaim, but it is modernity. It is often said that people yearn for the days of yore, and nowhere is it truer than in fundamental religious groups around the world. We all know how rapidly the world has changed in just a fraction of a generation. In the past the stories told by our grandparents were relevant and relatable; but now the experiences of a generation just one removed is akin to fiction.
If an intransigent society wants to shield its members from exposure to the modern world then it generally isolates itself from the outside and fabricates the rationale to aid that separation. If that intransigent society is the recipient of large sums of money, then it can be emboldened to engage in acts designed to further isolate its people from a modern industrial world. That, I believe, is the mission of al-Qaeda. Unfortunately for al-Qaeda the World Wide Web has become double edged sword that is serving to enlighten the individuals suppressed by their society.
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