Absolute truth

I do not believe in absolutes. As a result, I do not believe in 'truth.' Obviously I operate in my everyday life on the principle that I know certain things to be true, like the fact that I cannot walk on water. This leads me to avoid trying to do such a thing in case I drown. However, this is always contingent on the fact that this is predicated on the present state of human existence and human knowledge, and therefore cannot exclude the possibility that I may indeed someday be able to walk on water. Thus, truth is a relative concept, and cannot be absolute. That humans cannot walk on water is a fact, but not an absolute truth. As August Compte rightly stated, the only thing that is absolute is that everything is relative.

One of the 'truths' that I operate by is that the human being is a social being. Humans are the product of their environment and are the results of a myriad of external influences, beginning from their birth and continuing throughout their existence. Thus, I regard the concept of the isolated individual as an impossibility. If we couple this notion of the individual, as posited by free market economic theory, with the notion that this individual is at the same time a rational being, then it becomes quite farcical. Human beings have the capacity for rationality but most certainly do not begin from there. I shall expand on that notion at another time. So what?

The so what is that the entire discipline of free market liberal economics is based on the concept of the isolated individual rational consumer, a being that does not, and cannot, exist. Humans are entirely interactive and interdependent and every decision they make impacts on other human beings in some way. That is because every human act is a social act, even seemingly individual acts such as praying. In order to pray, the human being has to understand the concept of praying; why are you praying, who are you praying to, what is the purpose of praying etc? and that is a learned concept. Thus, praying is a social act, even though it is one of the most individual acts the human can practice.

As a result, the very fundamental assumptions of our dominant economic and political theories in modern Britain are quite simply wrong. They are based on false assumptions of the human condition and human nature. If you begin from a false hypothesis, then your conclusions will be false as well. When governmental policy and national decision-making is based on false assumptions, then the result can be disastrous. That is what is the fundamental problems with our society. Our problems are at root, philosophical and ideological and all the present solutions to our national crisis will ultimately fail. The fault is not the workers, or the unions, or immigrants, the disabled or benefit scroungers. The fault is with ideological politicians and economists who are, I would argue, demonstrably incompetent.

Your Servant
DoktorKommirat