Being Part of Something Big
This is one of the most powerful of our human obsessions. It probably showed up about the time we became civilized. Before that, we were content to live in small societies, and felt no need for something bigger.
The coming of civilization has never been studied very thoroughly, as far as I know. Perhaps one reason for this avoidance was the deeply embedded insanity that became part of our collective personality. An insanity that has only gotten worse as we became more advanced.
Living in Latin America, I can see this difference plainly. They feel no need to improve themselves, because their society is good enough already – and always has been, as far as they can see.
I can also see that America is moving in this direction also: the way things are is good enough and any attempt to improve them makes them uncomfortable.
In either case, the people are part of something bigger – a society that is changing or not changing.
What interests me now is when we became obsessed with being part of something really big - the beginning of the Modern World. This is another subject that has not been studied very well: what on earth got into us? Perhaps it was the idea of unlimited growth - a preposterous idea, but one still very much in fashion.
What actually happened was truly amazing: as unlimited growth became impossible, most of our lives became unconscious - and lost touch with reality! To put this another way: we became unaware.
Some good points. I also think the eastern Europeans have been coming to the same conclusions as Latin America. As for the US, some people are waking up but most still seem to be in La-la land somewhere.