Again... what is humanity about?
I think I have talked about this before. When we think about what we do as individuals and as society... with all the potential we have. It´s pretty limited. I mean, in the 50´s, the comics used to differentiate three kind of groups in the society: military, scientists and workers... and eventually a political class. That simple... those who fight and preserve, those who invent and make us move forward, many times together with the formers... I guess inherited from the cold war times, and finally the workers... which happen to be 90% (let´s leave aside the 1-3% of "leaders").
So, we are basically workers. And... even moving to current times... even if we have reached a level of leisure never dreamed in the past by the "working class", we are still pretty much workers. We live in a society where freedom is more widely available than ever. And security, and health, and wealth. We can´t complain that we are improving things... but yet, we don´t seem to have substantially changed. We are still organised in countries, and it seems more secure than a worldwide government (United Nations style), whose intervention is too political, too weak and too biaised to be considered "good". Even if it could be worse, we are still not good enough. In the Renaissance there was the philosophy where man, as individual, was placed in the center of the universe. We work for us, we think by ourselves, and we are men... full of potential and capacities, rather than ants or parts of a society. And that is a pleasing thought. Yes, we are complete by ourselves. And we can grow independent of the society... specially the kind of society which prevented people to move around, prevented them from working their wealth, or from organising themselves the way they deemed convenient. That central thought, although not lost... is somewhat taken from granted, and although, as I said, we seem to be more prepared than ever to grow as human beings... we are still very conditioned. Or, better said, we are still not stimulated, nor prepared, to fully develop the best in us.
Let´s see the education. There is no excelence. There is "preparation" for a working life. No stimulation, no "free thinking". Better than in other times, but too lax, in my opinion... and too accepting of our limitations, rather than pushing our limits, intelectually.
Tha fact that as society we are still thinking with philosophies of the XIX century is quite disheartening. We have, today, so many people living in organised societies, and we are so productive, that probably we can afford to have more free time for all... to pursue our development as human beings... even if the system is demanding more work to be more competitive. Well... maybe if household was not so expensive, we could devote more energy to think and act better.. than just working and consuming, which is what we pretty much do these days. Not surprisingly, the family still ranks high when people is asked, about what is important in life... because family, continuation and love... seem to be the only good reasons for the existence, simple as they may be. When we see our family, our children... work makes sense, effort makes sense, pushing harder makes sense... and it´s a natural feeling.
Does it mean that people without family have no meaningful life? Not necessarily... it means that they may have less sources of energy to come to when it comes to living, and confronting life. History is full of splendind singles who devoted their life to nothing but their dreams... without caring for a family to look after. But they are a minority, too. Also, some families are so just by name... completely dispossessed of the concept of love and care.
Coming back to the main point, self fulfillment is something that comes down to each of us, individuals, and society, even if more than ever (or maybe not more than ever, since those who developed the Renaissance where mostly from rich families who could afford the time to think and consider life from a different perspective that up until then), is not going to provide any of that. On the contrary, it has its own dynamics, where the force and the energy of the group of individuals is directed towards different objectives than the self-fulfillment of its individuals. And those objectives are not known, nor shared...
