Rousseau says that "...the instant [people] began to stand in need of eachother's assistance; from the moment in which it appeared adventageous for any one man to posses the quantity of provisions nessecary for two, all equality dissapeared" (14, Communist Manifesto and other Revolutionary Writings).
Rousseau makes the argument that the more humanity develops, and advances itself, the worse off we become. We created ideas of property, which leads to power and greed. We developed pride, which harbors jealously, and anger. Rousseau continues to say that as our societies developed, mainly because of these constructs, our problems perpetually became greater. Voltaire also satires this in Candide, when he says "...things cannot be other than they are...everything is made for the best purpose"(20, Candide).
The question i pose is, are we, as a people, heading in the right direction? Is everything really for the best? At first this seems like a very simple question, but think about this; A statistic said that cavemen only spent a few hours a day gathering food. Think of all the time you spend at work, in class, driving, and staying up late doing homework, waking up early... Then ask yourself again. Rousseau's point can be seen as easily as it can be argued against.
So what do you think?
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I have to say I do think humans are moving in the right direction for the first time in a long time. The past hundred years humans have had inhabited every land mass on earth and all we have done is just really fought over who owned what. Now humans entering the 21st century know that we can't live if we are fighting each other over land. So now we strive to protect our own property. We do this in ways such as preserving the environment, and trying to create peace in places where people are very uneasy with each other. People are also more open to helping out rather then sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone else to come by and do it for them. With new ideas about how the world can change, people are taking action. They want change and they are going to make it happen soon enough. So when you say you know we are moving but are we moving in the right direction for mankind. I would have to say we are because people are more aware of what happens if you don't move in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI agree in some respects, but to argue the point, cant the general idea of property be the problem? How can anyone lay claim to land, is property just a claim, or is it the fruit of our labors? (i.e. i farmed the land so what comes of it is mine) the idea of property generates more problems than it resolves, and that is just one aspect of the whole argument.
ReplyDeleteI think that to answer this question, we would first have to define what the right direction is, but we really can't because this differs with each person's individual faith. For those of us who believe in fate, I think it's safe to say that we're moving in the only direction we can, and this direction serves some greater purpose. For those who are religious but believe in chance, it is still a matter of faith.
ReplyDeleteIf the question is about whether or not we are moving in the right direction for our own species, I'd have to say no. Cavemen were fine for hundreds of years until they started to advance toward what our society is today.
- Elizabeth Anderson
I agree a small portion with Elizabeth, that if we believe in fate then we are moving in the direction best for us no matter what. But it's hard to say that in the aspect of right and wrong we're moving in the completely right direction. History has been repeating itself with wars and laws and deicisions and if people had truly learned the first time how bad war was, it wouldn't have happened again after WWI. Some groups of people are trying to move the nation in the right direction but without an agreement as a whole (which is not likely to ever happen) progression isn't likely. I think, in short, we may take 5 steps forward and 10 steps back.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie Grossi
It all depends on how one determines what the right direction is. If one cares about the intent of moving forward to try to do good for mankind, then I think we are moving in the right direction. If one cares about actual results, then we may not be. We are in fact human, so we aren't always right but I think we try to move in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what elizabeth said. people's idea of a "right direction" will differ from everyone else's. I do believe however, that we are moving in the right direction because we have come so far from what we had before. we are now more advanced and life has become a lot easier with all the inventions that we have come up with
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rousseau's idea of the more humanity develops, the worse off we become. From relying so much on other people we have developed great emotions like greed and jealousy. If you look back in time, there was none of this jealousy and greed. As time goes on and the more our world develops, the more these emotions come into play.
ReplyDeleteAs Jenn said, we have made a lot of progression in inventions and “life has become a lot easier” but when do we stop? Will we ever stop progressing to make our everyday tasks that much more simple? If people from a few hundred years ago could see what inventions there are now, they would be amazed and mystified. Even our grandparents tell us those stories about “When they were our age they had to send mail for their only communication” and such things like that. But to go back to if it is a good or bad thing is up to the person. Some will say that the more inventions, the better for us. Others would say that by making all these inventions to make things simpler, it is actually just making us lazier. Being unproductive because something else it taking care of it for you, in my opinion is not the right direction. Don’t get me wrong; I could not live with out my computer or the drive-thou Dunkin’ Donuts. I just think we should try to simplify some before we reenact some of what happened in the movie Wall-E even though it was a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteI like the ideas of Rousseau. Take nuclear war for instance. Mankind has come so far that we are able to destroy mass amounts of people just by the launch of a missle or the drop of a bomb. Sure, we have come a long way with technology, but I would be happier without constant fear of being blown up by a nuclear bomb. It is irrational to think that we could just go back to an more "analog" way of living. We have come to far and have our hopes set too far to slow down now. Rousseau's philosophy is great, but right now it seems that America can't slow down.
ReplyDeleteRousseau's philosophy is great, but right now it seems that America can't slow down.
ReplyDelete*The WORLD can't slow down.
The assumption that moving forward is by technological advances, education more people, and creating more medications to save lives is moving in the right direction then we are on the right track. If becoming better people and looking out for another person and not being selfish, there is not one person that is on the right track. People are naturally selfish and take these new advances for granted, when some cannot even imagine them. People argue over things that don't even matter. The reason for people committing hours for homework is the hope for succession of more money, in hopes to keep or obtain a better life style. A caveman could took hours to gather food where it only takes 15-20 minutes today. The hard work today is so that we can enjoy tomorrow, and as long as advances move forward people may have the opportunities to enjoy more. The only problem with society, is that someone has to win and others have to lose. In which, everyday we are in competition with one another. When competition ends and we can think of others as they think of you, then people will be moving in the right direction. The question that everything is for the best can be determined now as nobody is sure of the future and only future can whether things are for the best. As for my guess, environmentally we are on the wrong path. We currently use up too many resources and have too many people in the world.
ReplyDeleteRousseau has a great idea. the more we advance in society and in our lives, the more danger we are putting ourselves in. as Tony said with nuclear missiles. most countries in the world at any moment could make another disappear with one missile. as we advance what will be made next?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, advancing technologies are saving peoples lives with new medications and surgery's. also some of these advancements have made life much easier on everyone from a cell phone to even building a new house.
rite now in our lives its just a win, lose, situation. we all take chances to see what the outcome is.
I think that we make a lot of valid points in this conversation, but I have to ask the question again:
ReplyDeleteWhat is the RIGHT direction?
Can we truly say that we know what the right direction to lead our world is? The answer is no we can't. What is the whole goal of us living on this earth? If the goal is simply to survive than yes, I do believe that we are moving in the "right" direction. Our evolving technology is advancing our society to a point were our mortality can actually become a question, and option. I think in this discussion we are losing ourselves in exactly what we are arguing. If this discussion and this world are to move in any direction at all we must first establish a goal. What direction do we want; the health of the planet? the survival of our species? What comes first? The fact of the matter is that we are moving in a direction. As little and obvious as that may seem it is still happening.
I fully agree with Tony, we cannot ( at this point) slow the world down. So for better or for worse we are moving an a direction that nobody in the world can determine if its right or wrong. We are still surviving and our planet is still alive. I don't believe that we will honestly completely know whether or not we did move in the right direction until we are all long gone....
i think it has to do with what people think of as "the right direction" some poeple feel it is the right direction as others feel that we dont know what direction we are going. I agree with Tony, we will not know what direction untill after we are gone. know one knows the right direction is.
ReplyDelete-Courtney Lynch
Oooh you have hit on the biggest question of all: is this progress? We can look at our lighter laptops and better cars and say we have made progress. But maybe we need to look to global measures, like how many people live in poverty. Is the growth of the West causing the immiseration of the rest? That's the big question for me. Then, the other big question for me is whether we owe something to the whole swath of humanity that swarms the globe or whether we are better off just looking out for us and ours. Those are the big questions, those and whether snow will cancel school tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteWe must continue moving It's a part of life. It'S where you choose to move to is the key. Their are people who go through live without going any where. They just go through the motions and teach their children to do the same. Or there are people who strive daily to improve themselves,enviroment,and the country. There is no such thing as fate we make our own destany.
ReplyDelete