The Myth of Progress

Filed Under anecdotes, capitalism, from the heart, life changes, politics, spiritual practice, uuism

This began as a political thought that became religious, then social. I’m too sick to go to church today, so I’m doing my spiritual work online.

About two months ago, while comparing viable options for Presidential candidates, I was struck by a feeling I’d never had before: maybe it was time to accept a candidate who could represent all Americans - including the ones who believed the opposite of what I believed.

This is a no brainer, right? Taking into consideration other people’s needs and values, and allowing them a voice and access to the political process - isn’t this what we are taught by our teachers and parents? I don’t remember. I feel like it was, but why did it take 31 years for it to sink in?

Since then, this has been percolating in the back of my mind. This weekend, I’ve been reading lots about Islam and current Islamic thinking among young people. I started to recall many things about the Muslim mindset. I guess the pot started boiling over, because last night at dinner with Michael, I had another epiphany.

“Maybe America is never going to be the America I think it should be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when I was Muslim, everyone was so sure what America needed was Islam - that Islam was going to illuminate the society, transform people’s lives - slowly, but surely. That we were on that road of progression towards the Truth. And even then, I’d meet other people who felt the same way: Christians, conservatives - not to mention the various subsets of Muslims: the Salaafi, the Qur’an-Only folks, the Black Muslims. And now as a UU, I see it, too. Everyone thinks we are heading towards their vision of their world, but the visions are all different. It can’t be true.”

Michael thought about this for a moment, then said, “Well, that’s the myth of progress, isn’t it? That’s a criticism I have of Marx, for example. His notion that capitalism would inevitably lead to communism, socialism. The world is a complex system; you can’t make predictions like that. Civilizations aren’t always moving forward. We know this from history. [UU historian James] Loewen talks about this in his tapes [Everything You've Been Taught is Wrong]. Sometimes things get ‘better’ and sometimes they get ‘worse’. It doesn’t matter how great an idea is - what matters is what it’s up against. It has to interact with other ideas.”

“And this is why you were asking those questions about The Great Turning group, and the concept of an earth community versus an empire?”

He smacked the steering wheel. “Yes! And it goes back to that conversation we had about pacifism, and you were saying it doesn’t always seem appropriate. And I agree. Gandhi used pacifism to overthrow the rule of the British. But I don’t think it would have worked against, say … Russia.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think so, either. I think Gandhi would have been ganked. Plenty of movements have been completely crushed. I don’t even know if Gandhi’s approach would have worked had there not been mass media. The Civil Rights movement in the US would have looked very, very different were it not for television.”

We sat in the car in our driveway for a few minutes more talking about this. Ultimately, I came away with a much more shifting sense of the world. Like people, strategies need to adapt and evolve. There is no pre-destined outcome that we are working our way towards. This thinking differs from that of people who believe in Armaggedon - but also some of my friends who believe we are “cycling” towards a particular kind of world community.

I do believe social “progress” is possible. But as Loewen alludes to in his lecture series - particularly the segment titled the Nadir of Race Relations in which he describes how conditions for Blacks improved dramatically for 25 years after the Civil War, and then became horrendous again up until the Civil Rights Movement - we are not pushing forward in some inevitable way. It is through things like human effort, ingenuity, circumstance, and trial and error that positive change happens.

This does help me. It helps me to expect less from the top. I’m less inclined to trust “movements” in the sense that I know a wave doesn’t always reach the shore. And I know I don’t stand at the center of righteousness - not unless the center can hold everyone, in which case it would no longer be “the center.” I feel less overwhelmed by the world, because I don’t think anyone has all the solutions. I’m not looking for the eternal panacea, or the way.

Comments

4 Responses to “The Myth of Progress”

mskitty on March 16th, 2008 1:00 pm

What a thought-provoking post, Hafidha. Thanks. I’ll be chewing on this for awhile.
Chalicechick on March 16th, 2008 4:46 pm

One can progress in a lot of directions.

CC
Comrade Kevin on March 19th, 2008 6:58 am

It’s better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.
uuMomma on March 20th, 2008 9:56 am

This is a fabulous post. Something inside me shifted as I read it, so thanks. I needed that.