Politics and Economics
The Utopian vision, characterised by Universal inclusion, Majestic Architecture, and happy lives, has historically been the Ultimate Telos of any social or political order. This ideal of Utopia served as the promise behind Adam Smith’s capitalism, an economic and political system that promised to harness self-interested agents for the greater good. However, two centuries later, we find ourselves in a reality that is improved but still far from perfect. Capitalism has not been the cure for human suffering and societies struggles as initially hoped: political tensions are escalating at current times, inequality is widespread throughout the western world, suicide rates are at an all-time high, and society appears as fragmented and disconnected as ever. Yet for a select few - those who have cracked capitalism (the ultra-wealthy) - this system offers an ideal lifestyle, one they are keen to preserve through their promotion of libertarianism or, more accurately, hyper liberalism.
Liberals heavily value freedom and individual rights. It encourages the pursuit of self-definition, for one to define themselves by their personal attributes rather than their background such as skin colour or family name. This was particularly revolutionary in the 19th century western society, where it inspired the Women's Suffrage movement. But whilst liberalism can promote an increasingly inclusive society, liberalism/Hyperliteralism may also give way to society's own deconstruction. This is evident with growing political extremists praying on people’s insecurities, the Echo chambers of the web, constant rioting against opposing groups and simply the growing fractions within society. The concept of inclusion, however noble and virtuous it is, is heavily confused with the term “participation”. Where Inclusion is fundamentally about treating individuals as equal and ensuring that everyone regardless of their background, has equal opportunities within society. The push for Inclusion, can often overstep its boundaries, forcing people to accept principles or ideas involuntarily. These ideas could very much be contradictory to their own personal beliefs, yet the attitude to which such differences are resolved are harsh and ignorant even if you may be right.
This phenomenon can be an attributed to the overextension of liberalism into Hyper-liberalism. As displayed by John Grey in the book ‘The New Leviathan’ when we are given the freedom to define our own identities, we forget that we cannot be
“wholly self-defined. If their identity is to be more than a private fantasy, they must somehow induce others to accept it”.
“Hyper-liberals aim to achieve this by capturing institutions that divide people into distinct categories, which then become competing groups. The stakes are not only the selves that are chosen by the position in society that go with them. The result is to make self-definition a battle for power in which words are the weapons of choice”.
In short, this process of self-definition can lead to strong loyalties to certain groups and blind ignorance to others, fostering competition between different camps of opinions. Centuries ago, this was evident by the complete silencing and punishment of those who opposed the Catholic Church’s interpretation of the universe. Two conflicting groups with opposing identities and beliefs cannot exist in harmony unless they respect each other. This becomes particularly challenging when both groups demonise each other, where instead of inclusion we get exclusion, isolation, and segregation of society.
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