Continuing my earlier entry Sensus Communis (posted on January 16, 2011), where ‘sensus communis’ was identified, among other things, with communal spirit, here is an interesting clash of perceptions regarding its feasibility in practical terms.
We start first with an excerpt from the great American writer James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). Here is what he writes about the bleak prospects of “community of property”:
“Were it possible to have a community of property, it would soon be found that no one would toil, but that men would be disposed to be satisfied with barely enough for the supply of their physical wants, since none would exert themselves to obtain advantages solely for the use of others.”
Is Cooper “telling us the way it is,” in which case the Christian spirit of the New Testament is nonexistent as a viable option? Or is there another, unselfish social option, the communistic way?---
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
“And all that believed were together and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)
It is tempting to agree with Cooper’s “more realistic” proposition, but I would not dismiss the Biblical way offhand, as I believe that there are societies which are better inclined toward it than others. Just like there is a capitalistic mindset and a socialistic mindset among individuals, so there are, likewise, capitalistically and socialistically inclined nations. The latter admirably equate their socialism with patriotism, and, conversely, the former tend to be more selfish and only superficially patriotic. No offense intended in my words about patriotism: the essence of true patriotism is the individual’s greater motivation working for the public good than merely for his or her self-interest. There is no patriotism where, in Cooper’s words, “none would exert themselves to obtain advantages solely for the use of others.”
And lastly, don’t get me wrong. Implying this distinction between the Russian and American societies, I do not mean to say that there are no selfish capitalistically-minded Russians, or that there are no true socialists among the Americans. There have been many great patriots in America, and the story of the American hero Pat Tillman speaks for itself in the otherwise sadistic and crooked twenty-first century.
But the spirit of the Russian society as a whole is set for socialism and against capitalism, whereas America today seems more Madoff-friendly than Tillman-friendly, while her extravagant billion-dollar charities are arrogant and condescending, and oftentimes so explicitly self-serving, as to dispel all hopes of an altruistic motivation. As I see it, the communal spirit in Russia is on an ascending line, after the collapse of civility in the 1990’s, but in America, even though still alive among individuals, it is in deep trouble on the national level. One example of this will suffice: for many years now this country has been at war, with thousands of dead, many more maimed and mentally scarred, yet this state of unnecessary war has become “business as usual,” with no end, or even a national will to end it, in sight.
This demonstrable public indifference to America’s war shows me that the communal spirit in America, the spirit of one for all and all for one, is in retreat at best, or steadily disintegrating at worst.
We start first with an excerpt from the great American writer James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). Here is what he writes about the bleak prospects of “community of property”:
“Were it possible to have a community of property, it would soon be found that no one would toil, but that men would be disposed to be satisfied with barely enough for the supply of their physical wants, since none would exert themselves to obtain advantages solely for the use of others.”
Is Cooper “telling us the way it is,” in which case the Christian spirit of the New Testament is nonexistent as a viable option? Or is there another, unselfish social option, the communistic way?---
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
“And all that believed were together and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)
It is tempting to agree with Cooper’s “more realistic” proposition, but I would not dismiss the Biblical way offhand, as I believe that there are societies which are better inclined toward it than others. Just like there is a capitalistic mindset and a socialistic mindset among individuals, so there are, likewise, capitalistically and socialistically inclined nations. The latter admirably equate their socialism with patriotism, and, conversely, the former tend to be more selfish and only superficially patriotic. No offense intended in my words about patriotism: the essence of true patriotism is the individual’s greater motivation working for the public good than merely for his or her self-interest. There is no patriotism where, in Cooper’s words, “none would exert themselves to obtain advantages solely for the use of others.”
And lastly, don’t get me wrong. Implying this distinction between the Russian and American societies, I do not mean to say that there are no selfish capitalistically-minded Russians, or that there are no true socialists among the Americans. There have been many great patriots in America, and the story of the American hero Pat Tillman speaks for itself in the otherwise sadistic and crooked twenty-first century.
But the spirit of the Russian society as a whole is set for socialism and against capitalism, whereas America today seems more Madoff-friendly than Tillman-friendly, while her extravagant billion-dollar charities are arrogant and condescending, and oftentimes so explicitly self-serving, as to dispel all hopes of an altruistic motivation. As I see it, the communal spirit in Russia is on an ascending line, after the collapse of civility in the 1990’s, but in America, even though still alive among individuals, it is in deep trouble on the national level. One example of this will suffice: for many years now this country has been at war, with thousands of dead, many more maimed and mentally scarred, yet this state of unnecessary war has become “business as usual,” with no end, or even a national will to end it, in sight.
This demonstrable public indifference to America’s war shows me that the communal spirit in America, the spirit of one for all and all for one, is in retreat at best, or steadily disintegrating at worst.
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