Mutual Aid. Pablo Servigne

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Название Mutual Aid
Автор произведения Pablo Servigne
Жанр Биология
Серия
Издательство Биология
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781509547937



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signed by sixty-four independent and committed authors, soon joined by dozens of others around the world, was published in 2013 by Éditions Le Bord de l’eau. It has been translated, abridged or in full, into over ten languages (including Japanese, Chinese, Turkish and Hebrew). Its first merit is to state common values which can be universalized, and on which intellectuals from very diverse ideological tendencies have been able to agree, ranging from the far left to the centre-left, or centreright, or with sympathies lying even somewhat further to the right. This convergence is essential, since we will only emerge from the hegemony of neoliberalism if a broad global consensus can be achieved. One of the central theses of the Manifeste (inspired by Marcel Mauss) is that the main political problem is to allow humans to ‘cooperate by opposing each other without killing each other’. Reading Servigne and Chapelle, we discover that this is exactly the problem to which living beings in general have found an answer.

      Do you know this story? It’s a myth from the 1980s, but it’s said to come from a much more distant era. Once upon a time, there was life – a ruthless arena where millions of gladiators fought and killed each other. No favours, no quarter, no pity. Aggression had become an essential asset; it was a matter of survival. In this world, intelligence – sorry, cunning – was used for getting ahead of others, or, better, for thrashing them. You had to watch your back. ‘May the best person win!’ was the constant cry. The large ate the small, the fast ate the slow, the strong ate the weak. This was how it had been since the dawn of time; so said the sages. If you weren’t one of the winners, tough luck. Besides, you were probably a little bit to blame … ‘Damn it! Get up and fight! You need to win! To succeed! Don’t you get it?’

      Of course, these are not real wars; they’re simulated, cathartic, sometimes theatrical. They seem to be a way of channelling human impulses so as to keep us from going under. But do they prevent real confrontations, offences, crimes, armed conflicts, class wars, wars between peoples or wars against living creatures?

      If you observe living (‘other than human’) beings from the point of view of competition, the picture jumps out at you: the lion eats the antelope, chimpanzees kill each other, young trees elbow each other aside to gain access to light, and fungi and microbes show no pity to each other. The myth unfolds in the light of this ruthless universe. The state of nature is synonymous with chaos, strife, looting and violence. It’s the law of the jungle, the ‘survival of the fittest’, or the ‘war of all against all’, in the words of one of the fathers of liberalism, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

      Myths give colour to the world. And an idea, when repeated countless times, ends up being true. Just look around: if you say that human beings are naturally altruistic, you’ll probably be viewed as naïve or idealistic. If you say they’re naturally selfish, you’ll have the ‘realists’ on your side.

      Since the last century, Western culture, modern and utilitarian, has effectively developed a hypertrophied competitiveness, abandoning its generous, altruistic and benevolent aspects, which are now quite atrophied. Mutual aid? Who still believes in that? Sometimes it miraculously reappears, thanks to an unusual item on the evening news or in an animal video on the Internet that gets watched millions of times. Fascinating!

      A close examination of the spectrum of living creatures – from bacteria to human societies, via plants and animals – reveals that mutual aid not only is ubiquitous, but has been present since time began. It’s simple: all living creatures are involved in relationships of mutual aid. All of them. Mutual aid isn’t a mere news item; it’s a principle of the living world. It’s even a mechanism of the evolution of living creatures: the organisms which survive difficult conditions most easily are not the strongest; they’re those which manage to cooperate.

      In fact, in the jungle, there’s a whiff of mutual aid that we can no longer smell. This book will be an attempt to inhale that inspiration, in a long deep breath.

      Aggression and competition do exist in the living world – there’s no denying it. For example, it’s competition that prevents pathogenic bacteria from invading the microbial ecosystem in our mouths. It also allows felines to maintain their territory, and some humans find it stimulates their zeal, even their team spirit. Sport as we play it is a ritualized way of channelling competition, and competition forces us to surpass ourselves, and in some cases to ‘give the best of ourselves’.

      Moreover, competition separates; it brings out differences. Competitors focus their attention on that ‘little bit extra’, the little something which sets them apart from their competitors and must be kept secret because it will allow them to win the race. Don’t we say, ‘that little bit extra made all the difference’? Competition doesn’t promote social bonds, but rather encourages cheating and distracts from the common good. Indeed, why spend time working in common if this might favour your competitors?

      Basically, what is ‘winning’? Finding yourself on the highest podium … dramatically alone? Drawing the gaze of the others by tugging on their gloomy passions: envy, jealousy and resentment? Helping create a planet where 99% are ‘losers’?

      By pushing the cult of competition to its extreme, and by institutionalizing it, our society has not only created a violent world, it has above all deprived life of much of its meaning. Unlimited competition is an invitation – even an obligation – to a never-ending race. The disintegration of the bonds between humans and the breaking of our bonds with living creatures has created a great void, an immense need for consolation, which we are trying to constantly fill by frantically accumulating objects, trophies, sexual conquests, drugs or food. Excess, which the Greeks called hubris, then becomes the only way of being in the world.

      Unfortunately, we are now past the stage of mere warnings. This is our reality. Our relationship to the