Draft

The individual and the society, have always been in tension. 

The idea, that a society is group of humans, is fair. But is a society a group of individuals? Unlikely. Because every society has some rules, that every member must abide by. This means the individual must not say, do or believe somethings, even if he/she wants to. Most societies ensure members feel like it is their choosing, to be a member of that society, since their birth. This is ensured through traditions, celebrations and continuous reinforcement through words and symbols. And so "individuals", rarely come to be. Through a rare moment, a human manages to think differently, question symbols and traditions, and express views and take actions contrary to society's expectations. 

In modern society, what the society expects also changes. As generations move from young to old, they form their own cages, they imprison themselves in new forms of collective rules and expectations, perhaps even while they rebel against the old. In this sense, humans are herd-like, moving together like a pack, in a direction even they don't know. 

Society imprisons, but provides comfort, respect and safety in exchange . To be an individual, is in different degrees, uncomfortable and dangerous. 

But there is another kind of individual. Internally he is an individual, but externally pretends to be a "members of society". Through ambition, greed and desire, these members, who otherwise may sit very well with society, in religious, social and public gatherings, may take actions that altogether compromise public welfare. Their speech and actions, while outwardly steeped in social mores and symbols, are inwardly in contradiction with public welfare and social good. 

No wonder patriotism in India is limited only to standing up for the national anthem. Does any family ask their son to stand up for laws and the constitution, the environment and the poor. Surviving and thriving, as an individual and as a family, is all that counts.

The point being, there are those, who choose to be individuals, in the progressive sense, in standing up for their rights, their personal values and fulfilling their own will, as humans, as individuals, without constraints from society. This does affect the society, because it transgresses the commonly held views and rules, and upsets a social knowledge, understanding. It demolishes certainty, mental and psychological security. It contravenes centuries old rituals, symbols and traditions, that have held the society together, in common conviction. It breaks the founding stories and myths, on which society is built. These individuals however, hold no ill will or harm towards the society however. They have no ulterior motives, except to be who they truly are, and are more than happy to be alone, if left alone. They pose no direct harm to material interests, survival of the society and so on. 

Such rare individuals, must still, be protected. 

Then there are a second category of individuals, sheep in wolf's clothing. They come across as common, wearing the same clothes, singing the same songs, speaking the same words. But in their heart, they don't care for the society's interest. They have their own individual ambitions, their personal gains in mind, which are more valuable than any other individual or society's interests, in a very material manner. They do not affect the society's psyche, question their myths or beliefs. In fact, they may go out of their way to ensure this psychological security, the religiousness and togetherness and so on. But internally, they have no such motives. They sole purpose, is the furthering of their individual/family/company profit at the expense of larger social loss. 

Such individuals, in today's day and age, are in plenty, and must not be protected. 

The second category of individuals are highly common, pernicious and act as slow poison, corroding our sense of society, solidarity and trust, one step at a time. 

Modern economic society has no problems with either kind. It celebrates the individual, and it uses the first kind of individual as its justification. But what it perpetuates, is the second kind. A society built on competition, both in economics and politics, it perpetuates the creation of efficient individuals, who know how it achieve personal profit, power or protection, at any cost. 

Modern economic and political society, i.e. capitalism and representative democracy, have prioritized profit and power, mediated by competition, as the holy grail. And as the society enjoys the many comforts of this busy capitalism, such as iphones, airplanes, internet and AI, it has no qualms with whatever it has done to individuals. Infact, consumers, rather than members of any society, is what we have become. 

Infact, nowadays, no one belongs anywhere, especially in modern society. Yes they all have families, sure, but they are accountable to nobody, as nobody, affected by their professional decisions, lives close to them. Each to their own, in the flats, apartments, class-based neighborhoods, all moments of public togetherness, such as festivals, cricket or even national festivals, are superficial.

I would argue, that there is still some society left, in terms of family and relatives. And this too, is probably on the ebb. This is great for virtuous individuals, who want to live life on their own terms, marry, eat and dine as they may please. This is however, not completely a clean movement. This is partly driven by the second kind of individuals, who are out "protect society" , by "protecting culture". 

But this residual society, is absolutely useless, when it comes to holding individuals accountable for their corruption, from littering on the street, to breaking traffic lights, to engaging in corruption in government contracts, taking over forestlands for roads and mines and for producing technology that displaces workers. 

The "society/family", is happy with the personal gains that are begotten. And those who are affected, are far from their circles and neighbourhoods. 

Because what is corruption? Corruption is arguably, placing individual material gain, comfort and convenience over social good. However, it is gays, unmarried women and those who marry outside their castes, who are considered morally corrupt. Sure, they too have placed themselves over social values, but not materially, not in a way that affect society's ability to survive and thrive. 

Humans today are rightly blind. Modern capitalism and democracy, have reduced humans to consumers and voters. Everyone wants to be powerful, the power-brokers, the rich, the influential, the famous, so that they can be the controllers, not the controlled. 

This dichotomy of the individual and society is absurd. Society and family persecutes powerless individuals who only affect their traditions or myths. It absolutely grovels infront of powerful individuals, who ruin their economy and ecology.

This is still alright and perhaps well known. But here is why a new kind of society, is still necessary, now more than ever.

My deeper challenge is, humans have all become, cogs in the wheel.  Large institutions, corporations, banks, political parties and social groups, are driven by agendas that are part of the institution themselves. Read profit and power. That becomes the primary objective. 

There are few if no institutions, that only care about social progress, that are not driven by the compulsive need to make money and take power. The logic of scale and efficiency, have rendered these monstrous organizations, far more powerful than they should be, and they continue to move in directions that is without any moral or logical control. 

Let me illustrate. The AI developer does't care what it takes to mine natural resources to create chips. What deplorable working conditions, what environmental compromises must be made, inorder to get these large server and data warehouses running. AI and consulting companies don't care what is happening to the environment. Individual employees only care for promotion, shareholders care only for competition. The politician only cares about his position in the party and the party leadership only cares about it's position vis-a-vis the other party. Everybody is perfectly aware of where the society is heading largely, but each of them has very little stake. 

And their logic, individually is quite alright. If a party decides not to get funds from large conglomerates , they will very likely loose. If a firm decides to go slow on AI, the company will lose clients, drop jobs. Such is the nature of this economy and "society".

In the end, human society is tumbling towards greater resource extraction, greater social ruin, unemployment, addictions and so on as individual members and organizations optimize for their own benefit. 

Individuals, as persons and groups, we all have become. In modern cities, where the movers and shaker dwell and decide, there is no community. There is place or time to think about the collective, because it doesnt pay.  It doesnt pay to worry about AI, copywright, mining and impact on environment. It doesnt pay to worry about construction workers and their living conditions. 

It doesnt pay to be a society, a collective anymore. And so we earn, we get promoted, we drive profits and gain power, as we slowly die. 

Which is alright too. As the founding lord of modern economics said, we all dead in the long run.