Wednesday 11 May 2011

Communist Man versus Christian Man

As a Social Darwinist and believer in a better future of humanity, I often get accused of being overly idealistic and optimistic. People allege that the Spencerian model of human evolution tends to produce results which end up looking inconspicuously like the famed "new socialist man" who Marx wrote about. Furthermore, people also seem to conflate this "new socialist man" with Christianity's ideal man - Jesus. After all, aren't Spencerian evolved men selfless, as are the communists and the Christians?
All this is brought about by the fact people misunderstand Marxist, Spencerian, and Christian teachings. I once wrote a short post about the difference between statist "do-gooders" and Christians (here) and there I highlighted the differences in modern Christian and Socialist behaviour towards others. When speaking about the future, however, the topic becomes a bit different still. After all, as my critics have said, if the "new socialist man" of tomorrow is a communist voluntarily and no coercion is used, does he not become the perfect Christian? And is Spencer's future man who never does wrong by others and takes pleasure in the pleasure of others (and feels pain at the pain of others) also not similar to this ideal socialist man? The answer is simple - No. There are huge disparities between all three "ideal men".
Marx was an economist and it is easy to see where his man is different from the other two - he is a materialist. The communist man considers most things and people as a function of utility for the commune. I.e. individuals who slack or do not produce as much are considered inferior to others who give their lives to pursue greater gains. For Marx, who subscribed to the faulty labour theory of value, gains are usually material. The final Marxist position was best espoused by the early Fabian socialists in Great Britain who asserted that individuals who do not "pull their own weight" in society and consume more than they produce should be judged by the collective and maybe even eliminated in some kind of final solution. The communist man is therefore cold and calculating despite his outwardly cooperative demeanor. We get here the picture of an uncoerced form of the "Homo Sovieticus".
The Christian perfect man is someone we can actually already know and follow - Jesus. Jesus is certainly not a materialist. If anything, he is the embodiment of separating oneself from the material world through prayer. The Christian ideal lives a humble and quiet life where pleasure is not frowned upon, but is controlled for the sake of helping others. In this way the Christian man is very much an Epicurean - the ideal I aspire to someday reach. The Christian life is also communal, but it is very pacifist and has certain rules which matter above those of utility (in fact utility is not a concern at all for the Christian).
The Spencerian man is someone who is a rational egoist. He is not an altruist like the Christian, but he is not an ant or termite like the communist man seems to be. The Spencerian man has aligned his emotions with reason - he feels compassion for those who deserve it, but he is willing to ostracize and refuse help to those who deserve punishment. In a way he differs from the Christian man in that instead of providing active positive help and assistance to others, he rather minds his own business and never participates in any aggressive acts.

"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be." Thus wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson. But what would be more appropriate is that all we know is what could be. We don't know what the man of the future will be like. We don't even know what the man of the present is! Let's worry about what is today and the problems we must face in the present. The discussions about the Übermensch can be left for those times when we all relax in a small smoke room with a glass of whiskey, and fine cigar, and a few philosophically inclined friends.

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