You all noted important themes that Russell is exploring (and that we are or will be exploring in this class): Profit as all important; the compulsion to conflict; the idea (begun during the Industrial Revolution) that it is necessary to “spread the wealth”; the idea of a “common purpose” and the interesting (and provocative) comment that this could actually contribute to various kinds of initiative that could aid in progress; the role of hope and fear (and, ironically, Machiavelli was also very interested in the role of the “emotional barometer” of the people; the disjunction between the ones governing and the governed, and similarly, the administration and its employees;
The role of “mass production” and “mechanization” of the work force (and I’m wondering how that affects us all now, with our ever increasing reliance on technology?) and how that affects, ultimately, the role (and worth) of the individual, and individual craftsmanship and pride, and enjoyment; the paradox of war being (possibly, in Russell’s view) a boost to the individual and society, and the fact that none of us truly wants war; the question: is individual initiative always at odds with society’s overall goals, or is individual initiative necessary to those goals or (and this is interesting) is the fact that the initiative is at odds with society necessary for that initiative to actually work (just something to ponder)? Should we, as a society, be focusing more on our process and less on the “ends” we want to achieve? How important is, actually, competition, and is competition necessarily (as we always say) healthy? And the idea, ultimately, that societies do not have to integrate authoritarianism within their organizing structure, but can include everyone’s voice (not just on paper, but in reality).