8.0.8 Reasonable Hope

Version 1.0 March 2013                                (Previous Version)

Hope is a Core Value

Jesus talked of faith, hope and charity, and suggested that the greatest of these is charity.  We understand this to mean the expression of love and compassion in good works. 

But we despair of putting in the effort if there is no beneficial outcome.  There is no point bashing one’s head against a brick wall – suffering for nothing.  For charity to be worth while, we must be able to hope that the outcome will be positive.  Without hope, there is no charity.  In this sense Jesus was wrong.  But there are grounds for hope.

Is Progress Real?

Many look at history and see continuing violence and oppression, and say there are no signs of progress.  But we need to be realistic about this. 

·       The core of our human nature is determined by our genetics. 

o   Some people choose to deny our core human nature, preferring to believe that our minds at birth are like a blank slate on which we can draw anything, almost infinitely malleable, capable acquiring almost any range of feeling and emotions.  But they are wrong.

o   Genetic changes come too slowly for us to expect or hope to transform human nature.  (In the future, perhaps genetic engineering can speed change, but that is potentially as dangerous as it is exciting.)

o   Millenarian utopias – whether Marxist or Environmentalist – are doomed to failure, to the extent they rely on transformations of our core human nature.

·       The expression of our human nature within our genetic constraints is determined by our physical and social environments.  These change over time. 

o   Ongoing productivity improvements, a result of advances in science, technology and management, lead to greater overall prosperity.  If these benefits are spread reasonably fairly then people will be less driven by their basic needs.

o   Improvements in communications and the spread of freedom of expression mean that oppression, exploitation and corruption are more likely to be exposed.  Once exposed, science tells us our core human nature will react with a desire to right the wrongs, which can be realised in the rule of law.  History shows that social movements – from mutinies, armed rebellion, revolutions to peaceful demonstrations – can lead to regime change as well as legislative change.

o   Mixed economies in liberal democracies promote both these outcomes.  Free market capitalism increases inequality, hinders productivity growth, causes inefficient use of resources and waste, and fails to address social problems.  Democracies must allow for civil society to temper the potential tyranny of the majority and the cynical manipulation of the electorate by vested interests.

·       In these societies there is a reduction in violence and oppression, giving us hope.

·       History also shows that societies can collapse as a result of mismanagement by the elites, when they over extend their resource usage so that they can't handle an environmental change. 

o   Our global society faces such a crisis now.  There is no guarantee that our global leaders will adequately address this issue.  There is lots of evidence that they will react too late, too slowly, too selfishly and too indecisively.

o   Nevertheless, there is still an opportunity for global movements to have an impact on national and global leaders, so there are still grounds for hope.

Reasonable Grounds for Hope Are Not Supernatural

The history of religion is littered with promises and prediction made by religions.

These promises and predictions have not been fulfilled.

Religious promotion of hope for something better in the afterlife is not reasonable.

Shared Commitment Leads to Hope

We can be inspired by all the community leaders, and ordinary folk, who have sacrificed themselves for the benefit of their family, their communities, human society and life.

By choosing to continue in hope we ensure their lives were not in vain.