Surprisingly enough the term “Modern Times” or just “Modern” as discussed in a previous blog has become obsolete. Now the buzz word is “Postmodernism.” An oxymoronic description of contemporary times that became popular in the 1990’s with the rejection of metanarratives and the embrace of historical relativism. A metanarrative is a grand story or theory that undergirds a civilization and provides it a superstructure (ideas) for the development of its infrastructure (technology). For example, during Modern Times that idea was the notion of progress. The world improves itself with each new technological advance leading history to culmination point in the creation of an ideal society or utopia. A society of equality, freedom and material prosperity for all that knows no war and lives in perpetual peace with itself, as it establishes a technological kingdom over the earth. Nature is subdued. Diseases are cured. Traditional societal differences vanish in the melting pot of technological amalgamation into a new race of people. Likewise the metanarrative of the Middle Ages was the advancement of the City of God across the earth bringing all people into the fold of the Mother Church. To say the least, Modernity proves to be secularized version of the City of God. Thus Christian stains of thought may be seen in modernity, such as universal peace and brotherhood of mankind reaching the Omega Point or the materialization of the kingdom of God on earth. Theologically speaking this is known as Postmillennialism the prevailing eschatological system of the nineteenth century.
Postmodernism attempts to throw a monkey wrench into the engine of modernity by attacking its philosophical basis in the idea of progress. Progress, like every other metanarrative, is an illusion. Progress represents a fancifully explanation to rationalize the abuses of civilization, such as racism, slavery, war and the rape of nature. Take racism for example. The ideal society creates the ideal person or global citizen as well as a global society in the image of Western technological hegemony. Modernity is the Westernization of the world. Europe and America hold the standards the rest of the world must live up to. This involves rapid industrialization, urbanization and flattening of traditional values and distinctions in favor of globalism. Lest we forget the legacy of modern slavery and racial prejudice haunts modern society more than even the ancient world. The greatest expression of racial progress was the Nazi belief in the superiority of the Aryan race. In America this became the white race. Through technological power the ideal race would subjugate the rest of the world for its own benefit. This became true of both Eastern and Western expressions during the Cold War in their struggle to win over the Third World peoples. Today progress continues to race toward the ideal “person,” not “man” notice the blurring of distinctions between genders, in the creation of technological humanity sometimes called posthumanism or Humanity +. The Western world along with every other racial distinction is transcending itself into something new. Posthumanism then becomes the ideal Caucasian conquering the rest of the world by shaping it into its own technological image.
In dispelling the idea of progress postmodernism hopes to loosen the stranglehold modern racism has over the world. It abandons the notion of a grand purpose in history, such as the search for the ideal person, progress or Christianity is based on in favor of a relativism which simply cannot define itself. Thus it aims to restore power to local stories, myths and cultures. Because every metanarrative is an illusion people will turn inward toward themselves and their given traditions for meaning and purpose in the world.
I was once asked if postmodernism means we must return to the horse and buggy. The answer is no. Although postmodernism attacks the superstructure of progress it offers no help in the growth of technological infrastructure. One would think that the results of progress or the technological society would begin to crumble without its ideological support. The exact opposite is happening, without a norm or purpose to guide it technological growth takes on a life of its own. It transcends the need for theoretical defense. The idea of progress is now passé along with every other metanarrative that might offer guidance. Technology moves according to its own internal logic without the need of a higher purpose to guide it. Postmodernism has failed. It has only made the problem worse by removing the grand story, now nothing restrains the Machine’s conquest of the planet. It seems fair to say that the idea of progress moves according to a latent inevitable path that would include the jettisoning or moral values and philosophical virtue. We alluded to earlier that modernism or humanism as we may also call it morphs into its end result posthumanism or the transcendence of humanity into a higher species. Modern technological racism has finally accomplished its goal. Posthuman separation of a higher and lower species will make modern slavery look like child’s play. Strangely enough humanism ends with the end of humanity.
Postmodernism fails because it does not provide an adequate substitute to the idea of progress. Through its hermeneutic of suspicion it brings all teleological possibilities into question. Nothing will serve as a guiding light to technology. Along with postmodernism’s method of doubt we need to bring a new higher purpose to progress that entails directing it toward the good of humanity instead of our extinction and isn’t that the real goal of progress?