The Failure of Human Relationships in a More Humanitarian World?

By Sadhika on

The world is growing more and more “humanitarian” every day. In fact, being a “human” has taken precedence over being a man or a woman or a citizen or an Asian. It is on a cosmopolitan plane that the modern man in search of his soul seeks his identity. Anything on a less macro level is seen as a “label”. A label to be put on as a costume at will, or ripped off like you would a bandaid, as an act of liberation, even if it takes some of your skin along with it. 

The usage of the word ‘human’ has risen consistently since the 1900s. I pinpoint the start of this to the Industrial Revolution. After reaping its gains in productivity, for the first time in the history of mankind, we saw the possibility that resources that had been scarce as long as man knew, could perhaps be in surplus one day. At least some of them. I wouldn’t say all of man’s desires can be satiated by increasing production, but man certainly thought so. At least then. In a sense, ‘the machine’ freed the human.

The ‘us versus them’ mindset that had been in place since centuries, began to be questioned. For the first time, we could afford to think of ‘us AND them’. The social effects of the Revolution were countless and far-reaching. I am not going to go into them any further. I have no issues with the humanitarian movement, in principle. I credit an overwhelming number of the victories of modern civilisation to this change in thought. 

But what happens when such an idea is stretched beyond practical principles or public policy, and gains a cult following? Everyone is eager to prove how much they care about humanity, how committed they are to humanitarian causes, and how sympathetic they are to the dispossessed. Worse still, they are eager to prove that others are not as compassionate as they are, and this makes them feel victorious. They point fingers at those they deem ‘less moral’, censor their books or cancel them altogether, making their views unacceptable for expression. This momentary moral superiority is the hero complex bursting forth in a generation that is not permitted to win at anything else.

Not being encouraged to partake in the traditional roles that people played and excelled in, leads to a lack of individual striving on any front of life. Earlier man could ‘win’ at the tasks these roles called on him to perform. He could be the strongest warrior of his tribe. Or the most industrious farmer. Or an excellent father. A wise teacher. A committed citizen. A dependable husband. A devoted son. A faithful brother. And so much more. He drew meaning from doing right by his people. He derived his ‘humanity’ from his social relationships. 

Undoubtedly the Industrial Revolution helped us make great strides in preserving humanity. Ironically, in the process, we ended up undermining the value of human industry. With humanity made an inherent virtue rather than the collective fruit reaped by the industry of civilisation, with humanity as the means rather than the end, with the welfare state that acts as father to his children, what is man left to do now? He walks out on his wife and kids (that is if he marries at all). He abandons his parents in his old age. He does not know his neighbour. Human relationships are disincentivised. 

The rent-seeking behaviour of people looking to align themselves with bigger, popular causes to justify avoiding their personal failings and abdicating individual responsibilities is an act of rebellion by man’s unconscious after his refusal to the call to adventure. Putting the human above the individual, and above the family, even above the community, is not always for the greater good it purports to achieve. The result? A total collapse of meaning.

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