Abstract
Well-designed social classes existed in Western Europe until half of the past century. A system of consolidated linkage was reigning as sovereign within the social classes. This system of unity was based on the same system of values. An ensemble of economic structural crises later transformed the European society. New technological media are responsible as well for this transformation. Today, if one tried to make a map of the social body inside the European Union, they would observe some large social containers which could be called “social areas.” In particular, one could speak about the wellness area, warranty area, creativity area, incertitude area, and discomfort area. In describing these social areas, this chapter will put them in relation to some collective feelings of social evil generators and with some e-instruments which can give shape and substance to these collective feelings of evil.
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Notes
- 1.
The new “European nervousness” is similar to its US counterpart, “American nervousness”, described by some authors at the end of the nineteenth century, such as Beard (1881).
- 2.
The “agencies of evil” are here defined as all those collective entities including informal groups, associations, companies, commercial firms, lobbies, clubs, parties, militias, armed groups and institutions that work and have worked in the past to inflict pain on groups and single individuals, to deprive them of their freedom and hope, and produce fake truths. These entities are so different from each other that it is difficult to group them under a single heading without resorting to names that carry strong value-judgements. The term “agency” is quite neutral and can denote entities of various sizes and with different aims operating in different sectors and dealing with different issues. But it is essential not to include the concept of “agencies of evil” within so-called “conspiracy theories”, for this type of “theorem” would take us out of the domain of social sciences into the field of the new metaphysics or that of science-fiction.
- 3.
See the IMF’s chief Christine Lagarde’s speech of 12 March, 2020: “[… We’re not here to close spreads, there are other instruments and players to deal with those issues […]”.
- 4.
“(…) if we turn to studies of the influence of social and economic position on political attitudes and behaviours—an aspect crucial to the Marxian and Weberian concept of class—we find that class does not emerge as substantive social group but is a little more than a middle term in the chain that links position to opinion (…)”, Robert Nisbet, The Decline and Fall of Social Classes, in Pacifici Sociological Review, Spring 1959, p. 11.
- 5.
Elie Wiesel’s thoughts on indifference: “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death”.
- 6.
“Corruption degrades the dignity of the person and shatters all good and beautiful ideals. The whole of society is called to commit itself concretely to fight the cancer of corruption which, with the illusion of quick and easy gain, actually impoverishes everyone (…)”, Pope Francis, La Stampa 9.12.2019.
- 7.
In modern English usage, “hubris” denotes overconfident pride combined with arrogance. Hubris is often associated with complete lack of humility.
- 8.
“[…] En 2002 le nombre de personnes travaillant dans des activités culturelles et occupant des fonctions culturelles dans l’EU25 s’élevait à environ 4.2 millions de personnes, et représentait 2.5% du total de l’emploi. […]”, (European Parliment, 2005).
- 9.
La pauvreté en Europe, Observatoire des inégalités, in June 2018 registers 87 million poor. Ferreira and Kostakopoulou (2016) mention “124 million people risking poverty”. Most probably Ferreira e Kostakopoulou’s figures include about 40 million people who are still within the area of uncertainty, since they “risk poverty” but do not experience absolute poverty.
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Pacifici, G. (2022). European Society, Evil, and Technologies. In: Dryjanska, L., Pacifici, G. (eds) Evil in the Modern World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91888-0_11
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