The Irony of the “Liberation” of the Individual | Jacques Ellul
One of the initial criticisms of the pre-Industrial world was that the individual was squashed by his responsibility to the wider society in which he found himself. The Enlightenment, and the subsequent liberation movements that it inspired, focused on the rights of the individual often at the expense of the individual’s responsibilities to the wider society. Not surprisingly, in this process the natural and familial bonds that once held society together have eroded.
Nature abhors a vacuum however, and it was only inevitable that something would take the place of these natural and familial bonds. Into the void we have the ascendance of the nation-state and increasingly a monolithic world-state. Like it or not, the E.U., the U.N., the W.H.O, and so on wield a great deal of power and are here to stay.
Today’s quote from Jacques Ellul makes reference to our new reality:
“The individual has been entirely transformed into the society, and the idea of a personal, individual liberty has become an absurdity.”
~ Jacques Ellul
Ironically, the revolutions that were supposed to liberate the individual have actually worked to enslave the individual. This time, however, rather than being subject to one’s local community (a community in which one had actual agency as well as loving relationships), one is subject to monolithic, faceless, and impersonal national and global forces. As with all forces and organizations that wield power, the further away they are located from the people that they govern, the less accountability they have, and the less they are able (or inclined) to respond to the local needs of any given person or group of people.
Furthermore, and ironically, the larger the group of people that need to be governed, the less importance any given individual has. Finally, the larger the group that needs to be governed, the more likely that the criterion of efficiency will be used to make governing decisions. The good for any given individual (or, potentially, all given individuals) will be sacrificed for the “greater good,” which may end up working against every individual in the system, but marginally benefit “society” as a whole.
As always, the only hope of reacquiring agency and control over our lives is by focusing on our local community. Jacques Ellul is credited with having coined the phrase “think globally, act locally,” and it is only through local action that we can begin to establish healthy human centric communities.
Ok…that’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this latest consideration of the thought of Jacques Ellul…as always, stay tuned for more by downloading The How Did We Get Here? Reading List…and I will see you soon!