6/6/21

Conservatives do not rule the world. Reason 3

Conservatives have been losing their influence and power due to the satiation of the technical evolution and the creation of perpendicular reality, which is called virtual reality.  These are two reasons I presented before. The third reason is similar, but has a different meaning and potentially may work for conservative thinking in the future. 

The mass production of goods and services has been the driver of technical evolution since the second half of the 1800s. Industrial production created a great demand for scientists, engineers, technicians, and skilled workers. All these professions imply exceptional conservatism in everyday practice. These people ruled the world in line with technical progress for more than one century. They tried to transform extremely successful technical development into social progress. But failed. Capitalism is the domain of capital not related to human beings.

Instead of social progress, the conservatives invented an industry of exclusive goods and services for the broader quasi-elites - nouveau riches. To be exclusive is a synonym of having dominance. This is the dream of almost all not included. Exclusiveness means an individual approach - everything has to match the personality.  Mass production does not meet this requirement. Ordinary people feel like ordinary people before the technical progress makes it possible to provide individual solutions for almost everyone in the developed countries. Today, one can get an individual set of goods and services, with the latter growing much faster than the former, judging by the GDP structure in the developed countries. 

It could be the final victory for conservative thinking - this is the technical progress that provides this individual choice. But here we meet another problem. Do people really know what is their personality and what they really want to have?  The progress passed several levels of consumption. At the basic level, people consumed goods like food and clothing. With growing basic consumption and reduction in the everyday life risks, abstract thinking started to create material images like pictures and figures, which people consumed with increasing development in feelings and emotions. With time, people started to produce and consume practical (science) and imaginary (literature, music, philosophy, etc.) ideas. But now, most developed people consume the idea of how they look like when consuming ideas. Rational and spiritual ideas are second-rated now. 

All in all, we have many levels of personal consumption which may reveal personality.  Material and spiritual consumption are mainly conservative as based on the laws of the physical world and religious traditions. The most recent sort of consumption of the image of "how I myself consume various ideas" is absolutely detached from reality. This sort of consumption is not rational. It is even not irrational or spiritual. It is anti-rational and anti-spiritual. Here, this sort of consumption happily meets the liberal way of thinking, which does not follow any rational or spiritual requirements.  

An outbreak of ecstatic feelings is observed. The personality of ordinary people now is essentially the consumption of their own image, how they are consuming liberal ideas. No discussion is needed to feel right. No proof of own exceptionalism or supremacy is required. People are in the virtual world of their own perfection, as described in the post on Reason 2. This new Ubermensch (do not confuse with Uber drivers)  generation took the easiest way to express personality. 

Conservative thinking loses attractiveness because it requires more energy and time to get even to an average level. It does not give room for many people and suggest strict and uncompromised competition. Liberal thinking is open and has no limits: one can change own mind every second. Liberal thinking is attractive because the developed world is not risky and even the most idiotic and counterproductive ideas do not harm the overall technical and social progress. 

So far, so good. 



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