The Needs of the Many

From an Essay written in 2013

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – Jesus of Nazareth (John 15:13)

Sometimes I think it’s a curse to see rational connections between events, facts, and ideas. Even so, I think it’s important to use rationality and not see the world merely in terms of personal desires, feelings, or biases. And it seems to me the logic of the greater good is important, even though it’s often misapplied or applied by force. The calculus of the business world doesn’t always assign a high value to the best interests of individuals, because results matter. Even though a few good “servant leaders” might be thrown overboard in pursuit of the greater good, in the end the business can still survive.

There are indeed times when “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” as Spock, the utilitarian, asserted. In the film, The Wrath of Khan, Spock concluded it was better to sacrifice himself than to allow the whole crew to die. But no matter what the greater good might be, I want certain values to be upheld. I want things to work out for everyone, and above all I don’t want anyone to get hurt. On the other hand, in some cases logic dictates things can’t, won’t, or aren’t likely to work out the way we might hope. Whenever the outcome is negative, I feel bad when my rational brain was proven right. Then, all I can do is tell myself, “I told you so,” and try not to go crazy by talking to myself too much. I live in the strange space between thinking and feeling. I suppose a part of me wants to be rational while another part of me still likes to hope for the best and wants to see the world more like Pollyanna. However, the rational side of me doesn’t care what Pollyanna thinks.

Things are what they are. We can hope God is in the equation but hoping and having faith don’t guarantee anything in this world. Sometimes God’s answer to our prayers is a resounding, “No.” Sometimes important information is left out of the equation. Sometimes leaders perpetuate a survivalist or crisis-driven mentality. Sometimes decision-makers simply fail to find creative alternatives. Nevertheless, faith and hope can do wonders for our spirit, and might even help us feel better and press on for the sake of others, or for a good cause.

Rationality sometimes defies our faith and works against our hopes. My maternal grandparents died of cancer, and there wasn’t a thing the doctors or I could do about it. All I could do was be the best grandson I could, while the disease progressed in rational ways, and it became clear there would be no cure. So, while rationality provides a certain kind of understanding, and perhaps the basis for certain kinds of decisions, it can’t provide any real comfort, other than that after the fact we can rationalize that we made the best decisions we could, given our understanding at the time.

Sometimes, like Spock, we are called to sacrifice ourselves to salvage a situation we did not create. In the movie, it was a command decision to pursue Khan in the first place, despite the risks. It was Captain Kirk who failed to foresee that his best friend might be placed in the position to choose between his life and the lives of others, and it was Kirk who placed the ship in jeopardy. The crew did their best, but they did not make these decisions. The captain did. Spock had to do the best he could with the hand he was dealt.

Most of the time, our good and the good of others align and our sacrifices are relatively minor. Mere inconveniences. We should be thankful when our decisions are not matters of life and death. Nevertheless, sacrifices can still be painful. Sometimes, it’s not easy to act in the best interests of others, but if we are to be true to our beliefs, to our ideals of humanity, we must weigh the needs of the many against our own.