Three Human Constants of a Social System

No one can argue that the world seems a little out of sorts these days. We have resorted to demonstrations, grandstanding, finger pointing, and a host of other ineffective tirades. Before we can fix the current state of America, Western Civilization, and the world, it may help to understand what got us here. Because without a clear understanding of how our faulty behavior/thinking contributes to this mess, we don't stand a chance in fixing it.

There are basically three traits of modern human behavior that contribute to the current state of events. Number one is natural and the most desirable. Number two is less desirable but can be corrected. Number three is pure evil and will lead to our eventual undoing. In the above order, here are the traits:

1. People Will Always Act in Their Own Self-Interest - This is a developed form of "self-preservation". It stems from the natural law of owning your body, thoughts, and actions. People earn a living to provide for themselves and their families. They educate themselves to increase their standard of living. And they augment their spirituality, as they choose, to develop a sense of morality and respect for the individual interests of others. There are no illusions here. Individuals acting in their own self-interest respect the interests of others, and there are no rationalized short cuts.
2. People Will Rationalize Behavior, Thoughts, and Actions to Achieve Their Interests - Rationalize means to to invent plausible explanations for acts, opinions, etc., that are actually based on other causes. People may not respect themselves or the interests of others, so they rationalize their reasoning to feel at-ease with their behavior. They act or believe a certain way and rationalize that everyone should adopt their reasoning (because we said so, it's the law, etc.) Sometimes, rationalizations will seek to diminish the interests of the individual (for the greater good). Nearly all rationalizations originate from an individual who believes that the self-interests of others should be sacrificed (and he deserves those sacrifices for one faulty reason or another) to enhance his own interests.
   
3. People Will Form Groups to Codify Their Collective Interests and Force Their Rationalizations on Others - People with common individual interests will form groups to codify those interests. This is the basis of an elected government. In this scenario, the government recognizes everyone's individual interests and protects those interests. It may not make laws that diminish the individual, favor itself over the individual, or favor sub-groups over the individual. Modern governments over time become corrupted with rationalized thinking to further the interests of government employees and their associates. This diminishes the role of individual and robs him of the tools necessary to protect his own interests. All arguments become based on the rationalized "National" or "Group" needs.

We are  currently witnessing governments operating from chronic rationalized behavior. They will over-emphasize (or create) a situation and legislate simply for the sake of legislating. They will rationalize impending doom as the basis to further dampen individual interests. They group individuals by race, gender, nationality, and religion and have them constantly at odds (or war) with each other. They then rationalize new laws for "everyone's security". Our current national (or world) dilemma is that populations of individuals have bought-in to this faultiy thinking - many actually agree with government action because they feel individually entitled or collectively superior.

Our current global situation will not improve until all governments have the full consent of the people who employ them. And in turn, the people must respect the law of individual self-interest. We must understand that if left to their own devices, governments and the irrational people who run them will continue to run roughshod over the individual. And individuals are the key component of any great nation.