On Society

The society does not exist as a physical entity. What we refer to as society in colloquial terms is merely an abstract concept to denote the relationships between individual human beings. The school where I study is a society of students. The cafe where I go to drink coffee is a society as well, but the society within the cafe is only a relationship between all its constituents. It cannot think or feel anything for itself. As such, this relationship cannot assume responsibility, nor can it be held accountable for any initiative or project. Only an individual person can bear responsibility, and because the society is only an aggregate of individuals, it cannot possibly possess the capacity for thought or responsibility. A collective brain is an imbecile concept. All that has ever existed are individual minds and persons. If one addresses society as a whole without regard for those individual persons that compose it, they cannot be taken seriously.

For instance, when a politician says that drugs must be eliminated for the good of society, they are simply trying to impose their personal preferences upon individuals, and they are doing so under the guise of helping society. However, as society is no physical entity, it cannot be benefitted. Sure, many individuals may benefit from the elimination of drugs in our culture, but there will be those who do not. Thus, nobody can truly speak on behalf of society as a whole because every individual has entirely different dispositions that may not be accounted for.

When idealists and politicians clamour about how we as a society owe an obligation to some special interest, their argument is flawed at its very premise. Every person has different tastes and interests. It would thus be immoral to impose some particular interest on the whole of society’s shoulders under the guise of a universal responsibility to said interest.