Society 101: Motivations

In Society 101 we established the common goals in societies. Now let’s look at human motivation in the context of those goals.

We try to group our ideas and priorities into neat packages, like economic theories(ex. capitalism, free markets) and systems of power (ex. democracies, authoritarianism). These groupings can be helpful in rallying people around priorities. They can also oversimplify incredibly complex dynamics and present themselves as exclusive options from which we must choose wholesale.

The reality is that every implementation of “capitalism”, for instance, shares a few broad characteristics, but are vastly different in outcomes, and the markets it applies to, and the degree of safeguards present.

All Our Motivations

Every civic theory appeals to our priorities (as discussed in Part 1) and our notions of human motivation. Capitalism assumes we are motivated by competition. Socialism assumes we are motivated by the common good. Libertarians assume everyone is a privileged, selfish asshole like themselves.

Here’s the thing. Those are ALL existing motivations. Some folks are motivated by competition. Some folks are motivated by the common good. And some are selfish assholes. Things like culture and education and economic stability play significant roles in determining what percentage of any given group leans in each of these directions. But they are present in every society. And any effective system has to account for all of those motivations (and more).

We see this at play in every system. Free markets typically implement varying levels of regulations to reduce corruption and exploitation from greed. Systems with greater government control of markets and substantive safety nets still have to have greater civic participation and oversight to protect citizens from government officials exploiting and corrupting the system.

Every system has to deal with corruption and bad actors with harmful motivations and provide incentives for competitive folks. And all of them approach it differently based on their shared values and culture.

Our History

We also have to take into account our collective history. Many of the issues consigned to the bucket of “capitalism” in the US are actually rooted in our oppression of minorities like Black folks. And then when race discrimination started to get curtailed, economic class became the proxy for oppressing the same folks who had fewer resources due to racial discrimination.

This was the root of the systemic inequalities that continue to be exacerbated in our society today. Our version of capitalism is just designed to prevent those inequities from being resolved. Instead we make excuses to avoid remedying those past harms, like “poor people are just lazy welfare queens”, and “people can just pull themselves up by their bootstraps”. It’s post-hoc rationalization to maintain the status quo.

Blaming these problems on capitalism allows white folks to acknowledge the problem, without the discomfort of acknowledging our role in preserving it. It’s easier to blame an abstract system than acknowledge we’re part of the systemic problem.

So then ultimately our collective priorities determine the outcomes of society, and any economic or power system can reflect those priorities. Some might lend themselves to easier reform, but ultimately any system of government implements our priorities, and so that is where we must start.

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