We live in strange times. I’m sure people of every age feel this way. There is a constant tension between the past and the future. New ideas and ways of thinking are scrutinized against a long tradition.
But the last century or so has brought with it a strange idea that human nature can be changed.
I know that there are other purveyors of this idea, but I always come back to Karl Marx, the father of socialism and communism. Marx saw a society in a constant state of conflict because of social classes. Fear, envy, and resentment between the classes would constantly lead to violence. He believed that if you could abolish social classes, you would abolish this violence. Once everyone had all of the same material needs and desires met, then no one would be fearful, envious and resentful. Human nature would change once we achieved the classless society. This may be a radical oversimplification, but that is the nub of his idea.
Throughout the years there have been many cultural fads and political movements that have claimed that they could change human beings for the better. And some have had varying degrees of success. But they have yet to succeed in bringing about their Utopias.
The social engineers like Marx see human nature as lump of potential mass, like Play-Doh, that can be shaped however they see fit. If just apply the right education or social program, they think we can reshape the essence of human beings. This is why you will tend to find people who hold these ideas to have positions of influence in academia or in government so that they can experiment on the populace to prove their theory. But the ones that claim to radically change human nature, as Marx did, are doomed to ultimate failure for one very important reason:
Human nature cannot change.
But the last century or so has brought with it a strange idea that human nature can be changed.
I know that there are other purveyors of this idea, but I always come back to Karl Marx, the father of socialism and communism. Marx saw a society in a constant state of conflict because of social classes. Fear, envy, and resentment between the classes would constantly lead to violence. He believed that if you could abolish social classes, you would abolish this violence. Once everyone had all of the same material needs and desires met, then no one would be fearful, envious and resentful. Human nature would change once we achieved the classless society. This may be a radical oversimplification, but that is the nub of his idea.
Throughout the years there have been many cultural fads and political movements that have claimed that they could change human beings for the better. And some have had varying degrees of success. But they have yet to succeed in bringing about their Utopias.
The social engineers like Marx see human nature as lump of potential mass, like Play-Doh, that can be shaped however they see fit. If just apply the right education or social program, they think we can reshape the essence of human beings. This is why you will tend to find people who hold these ideas to have positions of influence in academia or in government so that they can experiment on the populace to prove their theory. But the ones that claim to radically change human nature, as Marx did, are doomed to ultimate failure for one very important reason:
Human nature cannot change.
You can read the whole article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment