Constructions

Recently I've been trying to wrap my head around the notions of human constructions. Now I'm not talking about roads and bridges or buildings and dams but rather the systems that humanity has created for ourselves to operate within. Examples would include capitalism, democracy, nation states, money, etc.

When I sit back and look at it - them, it - they seem so concrete, so permanent, so daunting, so consuming. Its not until I take a moment or two and really think about the issue that I am able to overcome the societal imprinting upon my mind that says that these things are unchangeable and perfect systems. They simply are not permanent nor unchangeable so why do we treat them as such?

John Lennon in his famous song 'Imagine' invited us to imagine a world without possesions or countries. What would it look like? What would it be like? John didn't think we would be able to because we were so caught up in the now, the 'breads and circuses' of life that we wouldn't be able to truly consider and conceptualize a world without these human constructions. Can you conceive of a world in which there were no countries? Can you imagine a world where there was no money?

These things are created by man in an effort to allow human beings to interact with one another in a ordered and coherent system. When I begin to look at these things and try to conceive of a world without money and countries I tend to construct soceities that are united and seemingly harmonious. Of course this mental frolicking is simpy a hypothesis and perhaps tends towards the utopian but I try to be honest as well.

What does money do for us? The simple answer is that it allows us to buy things. Of course this relient upon the notions of materialism and consumerism which says that we have to buy things, most of which is completely and utterly unnecessary. What about food and shelter? The neccessities of life, we have to buy those as well don't we? Given our condensed urban culture this is true for a great many people but we don't HAVE to buy these things. We can grow and catch food. We can build shelters using the resources inherent in the environment. Human beings have been doing it for millenia. So what does money do for us? It divides us.

Money serves to elevate one segment of the population while degrading another. We have created a system with the 'haves and have nots'. A system where we are to 'keep up with the Jones'. We are constantly bombarded with the notion that we must buy, we must consume, we need the latest piece of frivolous crap, we need the current unnecessary fad. We are told that those with money are better than those without. We idolize the rich and scourn the poor. The system we call money feeds a system we call capitalism which feeds the inherent degredation of mankind.

We have created other systems to prop up and take advantage of these two systems. Today we allow those with more money to have better health care, to drink cleaner water, to breathe cleaner air. Those with money are granted greater protection. All because they have more of what we call money. Are they better human beings? Does the fact that they have 'money' make them a genuinely better person than the person without? Does this fact mean that they deserve to live longer, healthier, happier lives simply because they have more 'money'? The answers to these questions are interesting and important. At the heart of them lies your conceptions of human value and which is more important human life or money.

What do countries do for us? Of course they allow us to express our uniqueness while protecting us from the uniqueness of others. Canadians are different than Romanians just as Germans are different than Koreans. Thats true right? We are inherently different and therefore need these human conceptions of segregation, right? Of course with countries we give rise to patriotism which gives rise to fanaticism in certain instances. In the name of countries we are willing to do such horrible things that we would never conceive of if we were talking about neighborhoods. We grant out countries the power to do what is 'necessary' to insure our prosperity and safety even if it comes at the cost of the lives of others. Like money, contries are a system of human interaction which we use to elevate some and degrade others all the while using them to dehumanize those who are different.

I guess the trick in all of this is trying to identify the effects of these human constructs and then imagining a world that either negates or enhances those effects we deem negative or positive. To me the systems of money and countries serve to seperate and dehumanize mankind. As such when I try to conceptualize of a world without these systems I envision a world where humans are free to live in harmony without human constructs to tell me that I am better or worse than anyone else or that I have a right to steal from this group in the name of mine.

Human beings are communal creatures and as such will always come together to form communities. In doing so systems will be created to not only help us interact with one another but also with other groups. Of course what is truly important in all of this is that we realize that these things are HUMAN CONSTRUCTS and as such can be changed by human beings. Capitalism, the nation state and democracies are not creative autonomous entities in and of themselves, they are tools and systems created and used by mankind to facilitate interaction. Because they are ours by creation they are ours to change and modify or to ultimately end. Mankind is the master of these systems not their subjects.