Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
British psychologist and former prison doctor Theodore Dalrymple has been eloquently warning of the perils of the moral void and self-destructive behaviour of the underclass for some time. Maybe that's what peter is getting at.
The Worldview that Makes the Underclass
Personally, I'm a liberal atheist. However, I'm becoming deeply troubled by what the void left in the wake of the collapse of religion. Unbridled hedonism and social breakdown on one side, and the allure of dogmatic and extremist politics on the other. I know the worst thing someone in our society can do is judge others, but it's difficult to remain blithely indifferent to the almost complete collapse of marriage and family among the poor, and the ugliness of a secular culture with little impulse besides gratifying personal pleasure. |
On this point specifically, this is what the process of moving from a culture dominated by religious guidance to one of secularism looks like. One is forced to make up their own mind, and the general public has difficulty making sense of the chaos and the void. This was a problem that the existentialist philosophers attempted to address, with varying degrees of success. What we're left with is a morality that is no longer decided for us, and instead we're forced to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong.
To Thor's point, if you're isolated in a community that deals with every problem with vitriol, anger, and hatred, then you're likely to think that's a good way to deal with things. It's entirely possible that if these young people were exposed to writings of wisdom from those who are attempting to make sense of the post-modern world, they might find coping mechanisms outside of anger and violence. Pluralism is just one existentialist concept that could be a solution, but merely finding purpose in life without religion providing the framework for a lost soul is ultimately preferred.
BTW, this prescription goes for the reactionary right and the regressive left as well as disaffected youth. Having access to wisdom is probably the only answer in the long run, and consequently, education and exposure to different ideas is likely the best solution for everyone involved in the equation.
The problem becomes how to connect to this wisdom and accurately understand it en masse.