Our society and our formation

When it comes to democracy and our formation, it is obvious that there is not a state-payed person who comes to me and tells me how to raise my children. It is my argument that the formation comes in a great many subtler, quieter forms. American society is a liberal, capitalistic, democracy. "Freedom" could be said to be the catch phrase. Yet, as Mr. Will was addressing in his book, it forms it's citizens.

The formation is so strong that democracy saturates itself in all aspects of life because all of life is immersed within democracy, therefore making it near impossible for the citizen to see the formation happen. I will not go into a rich description here, for who wants to read long posts, but I will speak on this situation briefly.

The formation happens because every aspect of the life of an american is based upon 1.) self-interest and 2.) consent.

1.) Self-interest in the ways of expressing one's self and his or her identity, making money, spending money, voting, and things of that nature. Society is built around this idea that we have about who we are, that is "a free individual." Most writers have described a free individual in a liberal democracy as an "autonomous" individual which means free from external control or restraint.
2.) Consent in the fact that the people are supposedly in control because the people content to be governed by the government, which whom they vote for. Which strengthens this idea of individuality that the liberal democracy puts forth.

What this means is that one cannot help but become what the democracy produces of it's citizens, which is a self-interested individual with as many outside restraints as possible cut-loose in order to create a story-less individual whom has the opportunity to make his or her own story of herself while holding a high regard for monetary worth that says the the private sector or the open market has the ability to solve the worlds ills, especially if the market is left alone to follow it's laws through. What else this means is that formation has little to do with what sort of "making-a-living" one will pursue but more with the deeper foundational-type views such as humanity, loyalty, and virtue.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree?

Statecraft as Soulcraft!?!

I finished reading George Will's Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983). It was an interesting read I suppose. What I think his major claim is to reorient people's thinking what government does. He says that people and politicians act as if government has a low-view in the public's eyes especially according to conservatives (less government is a better government) and that government's concern is with the material, natural, and monetary. What he claims is that the government, hence the political theory (liberal, capitalist democracy) produces citizens. Therefore, the government should take more seriously what kind of citizen that it produces. I think that he does a fair job at describing what liberal, capitalist, democracy is, although I think his claims to what government should be will not work in america, and since the book was written 25 years ago and I do not really see his views being lived or spoken about, I think I figured right.

At least it helps me at least ask myself what I think government is doing or what it's purpose is. I sometimes suppose that americans just simply assume that liberal, capitalist democracy is good. I am not saying that it is bad. I may be saying that people should look at our politics with a little more imagination. It is as if the whole world would adopt democracy, then there would be world peace. Yet as I look within the united states, there is still violence, crime, poverty, evil.

From the white house website concerning the middle east: Today, Israelis and Palestinians each understand that the only way to realize their own goals is by helping one another. An independent, viable, democratic, and peaceful Palestinian state is more than the aspiration of Palestinians. It is also the best guarantee of peace for all its neighbors – and the Israelis understand this.

Simplicity

Life is like the movie "Man on fire"

You are either trained;

or you are un-trained.