Perhaps a selfish individual”ism” is a response to a society that does not respect unique talents and differences of ability or purpose, let alone encourage its members to become aware of what they can do.

Such a society could leave people with an intrinsic awareness that their own interests are not being protected and that they must look after themselves, but not knowing what their selves truly are.

“Gnothi seauton” was the inscription at the temple of Delphi, and it is a command that has more weight than ever. Know thyself.

What hope is their for the nurture of a sense of community and interdpendence? Perhaps in a quite different area of government policy: the government’s agenda to make all schools ‘extended’ marks an interesting development in this respect. Extended schools are not simply about offering breakfast or afterschool clubs. They aim to put schools at the heart of communities, offering a wide range of other services (including, for example, children’s centres, libraries, adult learning centres, health clinics, parenting classes etc).

Are these sorts of changes going to impact upon ‘community’? Might they facilitate local people coming together to support one another?

Joseph Rowntree called upon us all to seek out the fundamental causes of weakness and evil in society.
Eric Berne gave us a succinct view of self-and-others; the tool required to achieve the above aim.

I would assert that (whether evil comes from social incompetence or – if such is your view – from letting the Devil in) its root cause IS weakness; the weakness of the individual.

In Berne’s terms, weakness amounts to an under-developed Adult ego state* in the psyche; a condition I see as pertaining all over the planet. The two terrible truths of society, are: (1) individual weakness is increasing, and (2) the overcompensating-weak, rise to positions of power. Consequently, any corrective effort must reach out directly to the very young as the Powers That Be are, instinctively, fearful of general empowerment.

I have synthesised an approach. It can be found http://www.barriesingleton.co.uk as outlined in 1995 to Rowntree. Click on “Visionary Stuff”.

Only wisdom empowers; cleverness is inclined to enslave. Development of a strong Adult ego state engenders wisdom and is vital to individual, family, group, state and world stability. Adult strength is the ultimate answer to every weakness and evil.

* Transactional Analysis http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/ta.htm

At one level we have a society trying to enforce conformity. If being individual is a problem then these Christian groups are a problem with respect to their local community.

At another level we have increasing distrust between groups. Not just in Java, but people reading here are likely to start distrusting Muslims more and an Us-and-Them attitude is likely to develop. I’ve seen the same in the Hindu groups, some telling me how in the old days everyone got on and Muslims and Hindus would even visit eachother’s festivals but things are more political now. My local temple is trying to bridge the gap by joining forces with a local mosque. I hope something good can come of that.

But then what of being an individual? From the above

“Individual isolation bringing with it unconscious sense of fear and hopelessness because individuals know they cannot survive alone in a complex society.”

I think it has to be met both ways. Can society be more supporting of individuals? As more people seem to hunker down in their own religious groups maybe not. We’re not as bad as Java by sounds of things but still our major religious institution has a belief structure which is inherently against other beliefs and other ideas. It is a structure which seems to ask you to condemn others based on them not worshipping the right deity.

I suppose it’s not so bad. There’s still plenty of chance to be involved in society in a more secular way, keeping away from religion. Still, one of our central society groups doesn’t seem too welcoming of individual exploration which I think is something we all need. It’s a challenging one to know how to solve.

On a groups level, the more isolated the groups become the worse things will be. I sometimes feel like getting the local temple and the local church and saying “Just work on this community problem together”. It would reduce duplication of effort. It will get people to get to know more about people of other groups. It would be great to see community projects staffed by people of various backgrounds working towards a common goal, a place that is welcoming even if you’re not Christian where you can see non-Christians feeling welcome and not fearing proselytisation. Where individuals can join in with no feeling of pressure to conform to a belief system they’re not ready to accept because they’ll be in a place full of people of different beliefs getting on.