Macro-Bushido: A Geoethical Consciousness
for an Info-Cultural Age
Martine Rothblatt, Ph.D.
page 5 of 9
Socrates was one of the first to explain Natural Selection’s preference for Honor. When challenged about the purpose of laws 
protecting people and property, he explained that they existed to ensure a maximum production of valued goods and services. In a world without such laws (i.e., without mutual respect and Honor), the strong would simply take what they wanted. However, in such a world, people would not work hard or creatively because they could not enjoy the fruits of their labor. Hence, without mutual respect and Honor, the whole of society is worse off. An ill-fed, poorly-clothed, under-housed and shabbily-equipped populace will not reproduce itself as effectively as one that incentivizes its farmers, artisans, builders and technologists to exercise their best efforts.
Of course much shameful activity occurs under the stoic gaze of Natural Selection. Indeed, it is because of this constant drift toward shame and dishonor that a samurai class is needed. There is no garden without weeds, and every good gardener must root them out. Nevertheless, no matter how many senseless murders, rapes and robberies occur - either by individuals or by states - the unmistakable trend of history has been to establish ever stronger and broader systems of Honor and mutual respect. The average person today has much greater protection from arbitrary action than did the average person of one hundred years ago, is better protected than the average person of a thousand years ago, and is safer than their distant ancestors 10,000 years ago. In a diverse world, it is inevitable that war crimes will occur. But it is more significant that the perpetrators of such crimes are inevitably quashed. Lady Justice works, at least part-time, for Natural Selection.
Hence, to abide by Macro-Bushido, the modern samurai must both be loyal to Natural Selection and express that Loyalty consistently with the ancient ethical code. Pursuit of a "master race" agenda, for example, does not "feel right" because it implies there are others (the "minor races"?) whose feelings are unimportant. Such an agenda would also run afoul of the Natural Selection principles of diversity and unity, and would thus fail Rectitude, as well as appear "shameful" by unpleasant comparison with Nazi Germany.
As a positive example, consider the modern samurai who fights for universal access to gene therapy. By enhancing life for people with all manner of genetic illnesses, we see the diversity, unity and immortality principles of Natural Selection being well served. At the same time, we can see that this Loyalty to Natural Selection is honorable and therefore true because it is accomplished with Benevolence (universal rather than discriminatory), Politeness (facilitated access rather than mandatory use) and Veracity (gene therapy rather than fatalism).
A critic might argue that there is no evidence of any natural preference for Bushido among the countless bloodthirsty species of life that are Natural Selection victors. Nor is any kind of moral code evident in inanimate Darwinism[1], such as the “battle” of certain words or “memes” to achieve dominance in a culture via heightened replication. The modern samurai agrees, but finds such contentions beside the point. Natural Selection’s universal principles of diversity, unity and immortality are optimized via different strategies in different species and processes. What works among dinosaurs may not work among people. Also, what arises due to some diversity in the near-term may not prevail due to inadequate diversity and unity in the long-term.
Footnote
1. Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its environment. He set these theories forth in his book called, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859) or "The Origin of Species" for short. After publication of Origin of Species, Darwin continued to write on botany, geology, and zoology until his death in 1882.
http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96feb/darwin.html May 26, 2006 2:24PM EST (back to top)