On Omnicause and its discontents

I know.

We all want to feel righteous in the eyes of the Universe.

We all want to belong to a "cool kids" group where we find acceptance.

But have you ever considered what this means?

Case in point.

Back in the day, when I was a freshman at UCLA, I was looking for student groups to join. And I saw there was a Cuban students union. So, I went to a meeting.

I should have known better, because I already knew that my people's obsession with the Lost Cause was something to which I did not cotton. But, I thought, "Surely, these kids who have grown up in the United States are not wedded to it!"

The pre-eminent Latin student group on campus, as on many campuses, was the Mexican group Mecha. They had reached out to all other Latin groups on campus to form a common front. 

At the one meeting of the Cuban group I attended, its president said that it would not be allying with Mecha, due to "political differences". In other words, "they're liberals, and we're not."

That was the last meeting I attended, and I forged friendships the old fashioned way. I mean, I sure as hell wasn't going to join a fraternity. So, I made friends in class and at work. 

I can thank my parents for giving me a strong moral core, where I did not betray my values just to belong. But that seems to be missing from many people today, both in our youth and in older age groups.

"Belonging" is an intoxicant. You find people who, at first, seem to agree with you. And you get sucked in, deeper and deeper. As you get sucked in, you may find that the group you joined espouses opinions you once found reprehensible. But, they love you. They took you in. So, surely, they have a wisdom you didn't possess. Bit by bit, you abandon what you once believed, and strip off your former clothing to take on your new friends' uniform.

"Belonging" makes you jettison anything you formerly believe, both good and ill, to take up new beliefs, both good and ill. And you don't question it, because that rush of belonging dampens any doubts.

I don't hold myself up as any paragon. But if there's one thing I know it's when I'm being sold a bill of goods. I know shit from shinola. And I know how to resist the blandishments of the Omnicause.

What is the Omnicause? It's a cause which subsumes everything. It's a cause which determines how you live, how you vote, how you interact with your fellow human beings. Anyone who does not subscribe to your Omnicause is suspect. Anyone to trades in nuance is anathema. The Omnicause must be served, no matter whom it injures. This way lies the Gulag Archipelago. This way lies Treblinka. This way lies Manzanar. This way lies Tulsa. This way lies Tuol Sleng. 

Averring that nothing else matters but your Omnicause absolves you of responsibility. It absolves you of thought. It absolves you of morality. You will believe everything, and commit everything, because you are in a group which validates you. But you will not be absolved. Eventually, Fortune's wheel will turn, sooner than you think, and you will be judged. And your protestations that you did what you did out of the purest motives will not be a defense. Those whom you've injured will have their day. And you will pay.

What you would not tell someone to their face, do not do so on social media. Social media is the most pernicious invention of our technological age. It allows you to valorize your false morality and gain kudos. But is is a false morality. It is not grounded in anything but approval from anonymous accounts. You have sold your soul to ephemeral forces. And that's no way to live a decent life.

Be better. It's the only thing which will save our civilization.