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Chapter 1. Basic Principles
of Political Phenomena
A. General Principles of Political
Phenomena
(2) Three Aspects of Survival
Directivity
a. Three aspects of survival directivity
The survival process theory states
that the fundamental attribute of human beings is
survival directivity. In political and social situations,
this is expressed through three attributes: ¨±
survival struggle, ¨² survival egoism, and
¨³ survival expansion, as follows:
First of all, the process of survival
is a process of survival struggle. Survival directivity
can be said to be an activity that eliminates threats
to survival, and the elimination of these threats
is the essence of struggle. Therefore, political phenomena
that are constituted by the process of survival are
fundamentally a process of struggle.
Therefore, wherever you look in the
political phenomenon that arises in the survival process,
you can find a struggle for survival. The establishment
of the Bank of England in 1694 was originally for
the purpose of controlling the tax system by nobles,
so that the king of England could not access it. The
Workingmen's Party of California, established in 1878,
mainly based on anti-Chinese sentiment among whites,
gained significant political power in California.
These are all aspects of the struggle for survival
of the king of England and the nobles, and the struggle
for survival between whites and Chinese.
The important aspect of international
politics, military arms competition, directly shows
the survival struggle of political actors. The military
arms competition between Britain and France in the
19th and 20th centuries, achieved through the development
of the militaryindustrial complex, is a typical process
of survival struggle between nations. During this
time, France inflated with the hope of overtaking
Britain's naval supremacy, developed military technology
and Britain, worrying that France would invade across
the Dover Strait, expanded its military.
Recently, the collapse of the Cold
War system has also brought hope and expectations
for peace to the international community. However,
in reality, most of the major countries in Northeast
Asia continue to maintain a clear trend of military
expansion, even though the Cold War has ended. Although
there are occasionally exceptional cases, military
competition that directly shows survival struggles
is consistently seen in political phenomena. Military
cooperation between India and the United States has
led to the testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles
(ICBMs) that can strike China and the deployment of
supersonic cruise missiles in border areas, and China
is enhancing its military at a remarkable rate compared
to other countries.
Secondly, the survival that the survival
process theory concerns refers to that of the individual
person or of each group. This does not mean they struggle
for the survival of all together (i.e., coexistence)
in the phenomenon. Instead, it means that they behave
for the sake of their own selfish survival only, in
the dimension of each individual or each group. These
behaviors compose the political phenomenon. Therefore,
the survivals of many individuals in a phenomenon
are more often antagonistic than cooperative.
As the end of World War II approached,
the emergence of nuclear weapons led humanity to the
brink of an apocalypse, but the powerful nations that
possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy the earth
several times over have no intention of giving up
their nuclear hegemony. Why? Because of the survival
egoism. Why? Because of the survival instinct. It's
not the survival of the planet that's important, but
the survival of oneself.
Thirdly, survival struggle leads
to survival expansion. Survival expansion means that
individuals or groups who are struggling for their
survival will often try to maximize their own gain.
The winner of the struggle can take the resources
of the defeated, thus expanding their own opportunities
for survival.
The military competition and struggles
for taxation power between the British king and nobles
that were examined earlier all arise from the process
of not only obtaining the minimum benefits for their
own survival, but also constantly increasing those
benefits. The competition between oil-producing countries
and the shale gas industry that led to a rapid drop
in global oil prices in 2015 was also the result of
a choice to increase their own benefit. Furthermore,
efforts to expand their own benefits continued even
among oil-producing countries. If any of the competitors
stop trying to increase their own benefits, they can
exit the survival struggle, but the possibility of
survival will be reduced to at least some degree.
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