Chris Milne Writes: Poetry, Philosophy and Essays

Written Approx.: May 2021

The Irony of Modernity is found in the West. In Western culture – or in what is left of it – there is an enshrined value of liberty. It is literally embedded in the United States Constitution. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” is the motto of one of the greatest – well at least most powerful – nation of our time. What does this idea mean? To me, liberty means the freedom to pursue one’s goals. One’s desired ends, one’s life plans. It is the freedom to make and follow through your intentions for how life ought to go. Yet this concept provides great irony in our modern world.

The irony arises in the effect of the application of the concept onto our culture. With a central focus on liberty, we have become an individualized society. For liberty promotes the freedom of the individual, the individual goals and ambitions one has a right to achieve! This concept is fantastic, do not get me wrong. It reaches at an underlying shared feature of human experience: a desire for freedom. The most longing struggle of our human existence is the fight against bondage. Therefore, the promotion of a value that grants individual freedom – and celebrates it – is a major step for humanity.

For it is easiest for social groups to unify and form under a singular shared struggle. Just like I assume the bands of early humans did. Banded together against the struggle of death and destruction; banded together in shared love of the child – and the better future. And today we band together because we all believe we have fundamental rights. We believe we all deserve freedom, and it is our right to build our life has we see fit. But the same thing that unifies us rips us apart.

For on a metaphysical level, we are unified. We are all believers in human rights, in liberty and the freedom of the individual. But on the physical level, the day-to-day level of human interaction, we are more separate than ever. For though the shared belief in liberty binds together, the enactment of liberty pulls us apart.

When one begins to fill out their life plan, what goals they want to achieve, we become specialized. For no two humans are the same. Even identical twins do not share the same experiences. Therefore, everyone is singularly prepared for a certain task. Everyone is a combination of their genes – their constitution, and their experiences – and what life has thrown at them. Therefore, everyone’s realization of liberty is slightly different. But there is commonalty found, of course. For we are all bothers and sisters of kind – we share the same DNA. Though my code is unique, the parts are shared – and this is well known.

We all know that we all share similar traits, or desires. We all want love. We all want trusting relationships. We all want basic needs met, like shelter. And according to Maslow’s hierarchy or Kaufman’s sailing ship: we all want peak experiences, self-actualization. We want to combine our genetic potential with our experiential learnings and do what only I can! For there can be no two you’s, no two Michelangelos, Newtons or Napoleons. Liberty does this best: justifies, and grants one the potential to reach only the place you can.

But because our life plans are individual, we fail to unify. If our main identity, if our main culture, our main call to action be our individual goals, preferences and missions – what unifies beyond your group? Instead of the promotion of liberty as a master value creating a bound nation together under one value, it created a loose net with individuals creating in groups based upon their shared values or individual culture. Therefore, we become more tribalistic. Because if nothing unifies over and above our in group – like religion did – then we revert to tribal ways. Our being is environmentally adaptive – we do what works, with what we know. When our environment becomes a society of the advancement of a plethora of self-chosen groups and the achievement of their aims – sometimes with contradictory ends – of course we become tribal.

And irony is found. What was supposed to unify, pulls us apart. What was supposed to connect us all as humans, reverts us to an older mode of being. We can be better than our tribal selves, we have proven it before. But what is most aptly needed is a unificatory culture that goes above and beyond our individually chosen sub-culture. We need a culture that unifies us beyond our politics, our religion, our ethnicity, our tastes or preferences, our team identity. We need a culture that makes us all feel as brothers and sisters; aimed toward a similar goal, fighting in stride – together. For once we realize we are all together – just like our tribal parents – fighting against death, destruction, and fighting for our children, and for a better future: that is when we will be truly free.