At His Crossroad by Igor Kovač

Author:Igor Kovač
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Opposition to the Foreign and Interdependence

Even xenophobia (which carries a pejorative connotation and is thus automatically perceived as a negative value) has a fixed place on the tolerance-intolerance scale. It can be perceived as positive or negative. Its positive aspect is that it performs the defensive role of an immune system. One of the main functions of all living beings is the protection of their identity. The loss of identity equals death. For this reason, all living beings have an innate immune system that defends them from the intrusion of foreign elements. The failure to protect identity would lead to general entropy. Resistance to what is foreign, or xenophobia, therefore is primarily a safeguard against entropy and a necessary component of all living beings. If we transfer this concept to social systems, it does not mean we are equating them with individual organisms. Nevertheless they must also protect themselves from entropy. Therefore resistance to the foreign, or at least caution regarding what is foreign, in order to protect identity is a reasonable and even necessary response. Naturally the immune mechanism in this case is not genetic or physically inherited. Rather conscious judgment is exercised in terms of how and to what extent it should be used. Even the legal institution of private property plays a role in the social immune system, providing protection against general social entropy.

Although one role of private property is to prevent “foreigners” access and to let owners determine who has access, owners are nonetheless compelled to consider the social role of private property. The use of property is subject to ethical rules intended to ensure that it will be beneficial to social cohesion, one of the essential conditions for the survival of both an individual and the community. The use of private property for the exclusive personal benefit of the owner comes under the ethical judgment of egoism, as it denies the social role of the property. Such ethical considerations are included in the legal system, but only partially, since laws cannot cover all situations a private owner might face, not even cases that might be solved with a broader understanding of the demands of the property owner’s closest neighbors, or by the concept of welfare. This concept also has limitations: the social role of private property at some point hits the wall of the principle of privacy. If the concept of privacy is transgressed, it will eventually be abolished, and this decision must also be up to the owners—namely, the decision “to dispossess themselves”.

Similar arguments can be applied to the common property of a community, and in particular of a nation state. Common property serves the needs of its owners, meaning the community. Just as human beings cannot live in isolation but must live in harmony with the community around them, so too individual communities must coexist with their near and distant surroundings. By tending to the needs of others, the community ensures that its own existential needs will be addressed, because its existence is dependent on others.

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