Much of our social commentary belies an idolization of Progress. Economic, technological, social and scientific, this idol replaces our concern for more immediately human needs – empathy, spontaneity, and personal fulfillment. Contrary to much of our public discourse, jobs do not necessarily confer dignity, GDP imperfectly correlates with happiness, and elections select leaders, not necessarily policy bundles. While we can broadly assert rising tides lift all boats, this remains true if we tend to the boats. Excessive focus on societal progress at the expense of supporting people risks defeating the human function of change.
Politics and economics don’t just happen. People vote. People innovate. People create change. But we talk about action as though it were a symptom of progress, not its cause, and that gives progress a rather specious life of its own. The more we discuss aggregate effects without a critical understanding of their social functions, the more alienated we become from our own spontaneous humanity.
Angry Philosophy is my attempt to organize some thoughts about the way humans interact with one another to create the driving forces of progress, and, of course, where I think those forces should go. Sometimes that takes the form of modern commentary, sometimes of philosophical musings, and sometimes of stories and photos from my life. But whatever its shape, the blog reflects not so much a compendium of completed ideas as an ongoing conversation with myself – and with you – about the role of the individual in an increasingly globalized world. I invite you to comment on what you read here, and will gladly follow the conversation wherever it leads, both as regards the topics upon which I write and the manner in which I write them.
Thank you for reading.
Angry Philosophy 