The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few or One

Mr. Spock to Captain Kirk said the title words in the movie Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan.

The High Priest Caiaphas said in the Gospel of John, “You know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.”

And Aristotle said, “Even supposing the chief good to be eventually the aim of the individual as for the state, that the of the state is evidently of greater and more fundamental importance both to attain and to persevere. The securing of one individual’s good is cause for rejoicing, but to secure the good of the nation or of a city-state is nobler and more divine.”

In Native American folklore it is commonly accepted that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.

“The good of the one outweighed the good of the many.” Kirk to Spock in Star Trek 3.

It seems obvious that the good of many, the common good, outweighs the value of the individual. It is the mark of civilization to put the preservation of the community ahead of individual needs. And yet, in this country we value individualism very highly; the freedom to pursue our personal goals and desires with the possibility of attaining them.

In recent years in this country the good of a select few seems to have outweighed the value of the common good. To some, this is the just reward of the individualism who have the possibility to attain such heights. But, in general most folk of conscience see that as irrational and selfishness to the extreme.

But are their exceptions. Was Captain Kirk right to value the friendship of his mate, Mr. Spock to the point he was willing to put in jeopardy his ship and crew to save his friend?

And what about the thinking of the High Priest Caiaphas who seems reasonable thinking it would be better for Jesus to die than to endanger his entire nation. And yet, is not Jesus, the incarnate god of more value than that nation? And, in this case was the greater good found beyond the limits of that nation?

I have always liked the tension of those beliefs well stated, more than once in the episodes of Star Trek. There is legitimate tension between individualism and the social good. There is hope found in the concept that God’s eye in on the common sparrow and seeks its individual well being, but that is in the context of universal history.

In my conversations with Lamont, a cat of uncommon rugged handsomeness, he constantly seeks his own individual well being of being fed, housed, and petted and is equally happy licking and grooming his sisters. Perhaps Lamont, Patchtricia, and Pawline have all this figured out better than we mere humans.

“Live long and prosper.”