What is the social cement that holds society together?

 

The Scottish philosopher, David Hume, pondered why the many can be governed so easily by the few and concluded that both force and opinion, play a role.

The Irish philosopher, Edmund Burke, who is seen as the father of modern-day conservatism, thought it was the 'little platoons' - families, communities, and local institutions - that were the foundations of society and which maintained social order and cohesion. The English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, talked about a theoretical condition called the "state of nature", which existed before government, where human life was a "war of all against all" which was characterized by fear, constant conflict, and a lack of morality, industry and society.

If this is the case, how did the native Americans live without a government or the aboriginal people of Australia? They lived in a state of nature for tens of thousands of years but they had their own rules, customs, and traditions. They were self-governing autonomous tribes that practiced mutual aid and co-operation. Is this what they call anarchy? There may have been conflict between tribes at times, over competition for natural resources, but those conflicts weren't anything like the two world wars of the 20th century. There was also a great deal of co-operation because in the long-run, it is in nobody's interest to be in a constant state of war. 

I believe that the Indian Chief Sitting Bull, came to England in 1887, as part of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. In London, he was shocked to see the number of people begging in the streets. He couldn't quite understand why these people were going hungry when the shops were full of food. He said his own tribe did experience privation at times, but they shared what they had among the tribal members so that nobody went hungry.

I was never impressed with this Thatcherite idea of rugged individualism where we are all seen as competitive individuals pursuing our own greed and self-interests. Society works as well as it does because we're not really like that. If we were, we wouldn't have lifeboat crews or listening volunteers at the Samaritans. A society that is made up of an aggregate of self-interested egoists, is no society at all.