|
What is the bedrock meaning of being a member of society? What, ultimately, holds societies together? Carolyn Marvin and Hitler had it right. The essence of a society is the willingness of members of this society to die for it. Willingness to die for a community is the "ultimate expression of faith in social existence."
Mein Kampf
(Hitler, 1924) |
Blood Sacrifice and the Nation: Totem Rituals and the American Flag (Marvin, 1999). |
| The state-forming forces are the ability and will of the individual to sacrifice himself for the totality. To be “social” means that every individual is ready to die for the community. |
Society depends on the death of its own members at the hands of the group. To die for others is the ultimate expression of faith in social existence.
|
|