Keeping
the Herd Together:
Man is gregarious and seems to thrive
in company. Biology has played a major role in the evolution of man’s behavior
and interaction with other humans. It was very clear from early pre- historic
times that some of us were endowed with more physical power while the others
had more mental prowess. Originally the numbers were the determining factor on
which the humans controlled other humans. Soon the humans with mental prowess
cooked up schemes which started to trump physical numbers only. A pointed stone
could do more damage than a fist. Soon there were leaders and followers. Thunders were installed as Gods and Mountain
caves were the new temples. The smarter bunch conjured up Religion and the Priests
became the heads of first governments. The Priests continue to determine a lot
of government though we now have parallel civilian governments which call the
shots also. The agrarian society kept humans in place for a very long time and
most of their effort flowed into the growing food and feeding themselves. The
conflict was small scale because the natural resources were plentiful. The idea
of a government by some form of entity continued to thrive in form of churches
and the need to defend the communities. The idea of keeping the herd together for
myriad reasons was here to stay.
Abraham Lincoln’s quote “Government is
coming together of people to do for one another collectively what they could
not do as well as or at all privately” in Dall W. Forsythe’s Memos to the
Governor may be cogent but tells us only half a story as to why people come
together. The idea that people get together to do things collectively what they
cannot do privately does not really explain the purposes of this collectivity.
The history of mankind lies in the motivations surrounding this collectivity. The
real question is which way the collective herd is lead by those endowed with
the mental prowess to destroy the other herds. And what a tremendous havoc this
collectivity has caused in many cases.
Destructive
Power of the Herd:
The collective herd led by the most
destructive of leaders armed with lethal weapons like nuclear weapons have killed
about 41 million people in wars waged in every corner of the world in 20th
century only .Sometimes it is based on national pride like when Great Britain
chose to subdue Falkland Islands which killed 30000 people. Ethnic violence in India/
Pakistan partition had killed 800000 people in 3 months. Pol Pot killed
1,770,000 in Cambodia. Civil war in China killed 6,200,000 people. (Milton
Leitenberg 2003 in Cornell University Peace Studies Program). American Civil
war killed about 618, 000 Americans. The American atom bombs dropped on
Nagasaki and Hiroshima set another record by killing about 75000 people within
a week. The wages of collectivity have been swerve and swift. It makes
one think and question the uses of collectives which are now sometimes known as
democratic governments. We also need to remember Hitler and holocaust as an
example of the very destructive nature of the herd. It tried to decimate a
whole community of people. It was later tried on a small scale by Serbs in
Balkans. Rallying and getting together
is not all good
The arrival of industrial age and later
technological breakthroughs have in last few decades handed more power to the leaders
of the herd and it is a concern to the
survival of the world as we know it.
All
is not Lost:
Despite the destructive nature of collectives
to do things together and establish institutions that promote good of people have
thrived and have brought the kind of civility to our societies which clearly
distinguish us from the animalistic nature of human instincts. In most modern
societies the governments and people need each other. The principle of rule of
law is perhaps the most important concept invented in the modern times. It is
not perfect answer to all the human problems but it instills order and brings
peace to communities and societies which improve the quality of lives of
people.
The
Role of Modern Government in Society:
Abraham Lincoln’s words “coming
together” have taken a different meaning in our modern society. First a
government is the only entity that could use force. All other institutions have no such force. So what does it do with this force other
than waging wars? It incarcerates people (more than 2 million in US), it
enforces the economic burden on some and relieves it on others and in reality
can forbid you to do things like driving over 65 miles or eat foods that may
make you obese. And ultimately the meaning of government since Lincoln uttered
his words has been transformed and become highly complex with the modern
technology. The government can watch anyone at home via satellites and other
gadgets. The governments can put bracelets on people and watch them wherever they
go. The video cameras watch you at road intersections. Above all when people
get together to protest or oppose something which the government does, it can
watch you with drones from above and make you a scapegoat.
Laissez
Faire:
An extreme fringe of people argues that
the government’s power to use power to control individual lives through
coercive force and economic controls should end. They in fact would like the
people to be nincompoops. They would like to school children at home, build our
houses wherever we like and as we like. They detest government interventions in
housing, jobs, taxes and other economic activities. These people also feel that
government can do no good and there is no such thing as public good.
Democracy
and Government:
In reality the governments have done a
lot of good to the people they serve although they tend to self destruct at
times. Historically we have come a long way. Firstly, the people can now talk
and discuss the failings of the governments. Facebook and Twitter has shown in
the Middle East that social interaction on the world wide web can confront the
government. Secondly the increasing availability of safety net for the poor, deprived
and oppressed has shown the advantages of collective actions. Thirdly the proliferation
of electoral systems through democracies has made collective actions more
viable. The democracy in large nations however is still a messy business and
the progress towards human good and justice has been terribly slow. Democracies
as practiced in the city states have not translated into good democratic
practices in large monoliths like USA, Russia, India and China. They remain
very imperfect societies where all good had to be muddled through.
Mario
Cuomo was probably the most policy savvy Governor of New York ever. He served
the state very well and saved a lot of money to the state. Yet in the end he
lost the election to an unknown. The people got tired of his budget cutting and
advocating good economic policies.
In the end I must say that Lincoln’s
statement regarding government as getting together of people to do what they
cannot do alone is correct but in an entirely different context than he
thought. We are still trying to find out as to why the elements of governments
that do good for humans are also the instruments to inflict heavy damage to
them.
