Why does there seem to be an inclination to slavery in men?
Not all men are inclined this way, but many, enough to make a difference; enough to dominate political cultures.
I overstate the proposition to attract attention. We don’t sell or volunteer ourselves into slavery, instead we consistently, in small steps, surrender our freedoms to firm state control. Statism is the label for this slavery.
History seems to suggest that there is a compelling inclination of men to defer to government more and more, accepting restrictions and limits on their freedoms. It does not seem to matter what form of government or governor we have. It could be Roman caesars, feudal lords, Jewish kings or prime ministers and presidents; the same compelling inclination appears to operate. It is like a ratchet wrench that only tightens.
Sometimes there are convulsions against this trend — the Glorious Revolution in England, or the American or French revolutions, or even the communist revolutions. But then the new masters start, and the trend line is re-asserted.
In North America, we have accepted many new rules in the last 50 years that our political ancestors would have found unconscionable. We seem to welcome preemptive security laws to protect us from terrorists. We think health laws protecting us from ourselves are clever. And we tolerate consumer protection rules and legislation that are increasingly intrusive and demanding to protect us from our failures of judgement in product selection. The scope and areas of the domain of these new rules are broad and diverse. We don’t trust our judgment in such areas as personal hygiene, health, car and bicycle safety, food safety, historical beliefs (Holocaust deniers), and politically correct speech.
Why do we value the security and charm of state management of our lives and treasure less the freedom to act and think? I wonder. I wonder if it could be a spiritual malaise that is rooted in self-loathing. Addicts have the same inclination to surrender their being to a higher power: booze, drugs, gambling or others. The root of this is often a personal spiritual malaise. Egocentric perceptions lead to self-loathing. Maybe humanity has a collective egocentric focus that leads to a self-loathing that is solved by ensuring men don’t make decisions.