Simpleton Sociology

Rule systems are by far the greatest improvement ever made in our way of living together. But they cannot replace what humans had before. Rules are a great supplement. I believe they are indispensable for a modern society. But we are today witnessing that the former base of social organization is disintegrating leaving only the rules. That will not do.

So what was there before laws? The only check to keep people in line with the social (tribal) system was social pressure. Humans are social animals and most of us need company. One does not piss off his peers. Easy as that. There is more to it though, even more basic. There once was a time when people were responsible for their deeds, and they were held responsible by their peers, for good or for bad.

Both is still true today, but to a minor degree. I'll generate yawns all around when I ascertain yet again that society is atomizing, meaning we don't even know our neighbors and families count four heads at most. If one really messes up it's easy to go to another city. And in professional (partly even in private) life it is ever more easy and frequent to blame responsibility for anything on some abstract concept like state or company.

I'm not going to chant conservative anthems though. I believe social checks and balances should be strengthened where ever possible, I believe personal responsibility must be reinvented. But it has to be done in a novel fashion that is appropriate for a modern society.