Having Enough: Musings On Being a LOUSY Capitalist... and a LOUSY Collectivist!
I remember back in college — shortly after I'd arrived in the US from Europe — one of my pinstripe suited finance professors labeled me as "A Communist" because I came from a social democracy (Denmark) and didn't really subscribe to the US version of rampant Capitalism.
At a different time, I also found myself labeled a "sellout" by a group of free-living hippy-dippy types because I believed it was a good idea for me to be financially accountable for myself, rather than — in essence — mooching off "the system."
What Happened to the Middle Way?
Separated by a number of years, the two assertions both struck me as slightly odd because, I thought, most people in the world tend to fall somewhere towards the middle of the spectrum.
That's BRIGHT!
I suppose the "oddity" of it is this human tendency to slap labels on extremes, and then feeling confused when the vast majority of the people walking around actually don't fit the labels.
"If you hate Trump, you must love Obama!"
What kind of BS statement is that? And what's wrong with thinking Trump is OK in some respects, and a circus clown in others? Similarly, what's wrong with thinking Obama was OK in some respects, and a circus clown in other.
"Well, you're either with us, or you're with them!"
Well, under those terms and conditions, I choose to abstain.
So Back to the "Lousy" Bit...
What evidently makes me "lousy" is that I live by a philosophy — more or less — of simply wanting enough. And wanting others to have "enough."
Poppies in the afternoon sun
Now, critics of that idea are quick to point out that "enough" is a fabulously nebulous and ambiguous word, and no doubt different for everyone... and I concur.
However, "enough" is as much a mindset, as it is a state of finance and assets.
What "enough" means — to ME — is having basic housing, clothing, services, food and healthcare covered every month without either (A) constantly worrying about what's going to get turned off or repossessed and (B) having to work 80 hours at three jobs to have such security.
Where the "mindset" part comes in is that I am not expecting some kind of social handout or subsidy, I am looking for an overall societal structure within which my going to my place of work and doing "a good job" for the pre-determined amount of time (35 hours? 40 hours? 45 hours a week?) makes the above basic life possible.
And without having to have seven roommates in a three bedroom apartment.
Why "Give Up" Something, just to Have the BASICS?
Of course, then people tend to come climbing out of the woodwork to tell me I'm an enemy of capitalism. And that if I'm so "unhappy," I should just move into some collective or commune.
Wild roses
I ponder this line of thinking, which to me sounds like I am expected to "give up" the basic comforts of life in order to be part of "the system."
Once again, I find myself wanting to abstain. Except... abstaining can be logistically very difficult. For example, if you fall and break your leg, your choices are "be in the system" and get medical service, or... potentially... lose a leg. In a reasonable world, that's pretty much a no-brainer. I like walking.
So, while the accusations and insults tend to fly during these types of arguments, I always end up at the same root questions: What does it say about a society — and I mean ANY society — that it allows millions to live in involuntary squalor, while a tiny number keep striving to accumulate more while they already have "enough" for 100, 1,000, 10,000 families.
Of course, this is where I have gotten used to lectures about "The Evils of Government" and "The Evils of Socialism," and I realize that's how the cookies crumbles.
And that's where I come back to the basic idea that change doesn't happen because of governments and legislation and politics... it happens because we change HOW WE THINK ABOUT THINGS, at the fundamental human level.
I'm Actually Being SELFISH!
The odd thing here is that I am actually being very selfish here.
The tiniest flower
The thing is, if more people were able to simply "get by" in moderate comfort, with a moderate amount of effort, I would have to worry LESS about hardscrabble poverty delinquents trying to break into my car to steal and sell my stereo... because they wouldn't BE hardscrabble poverty delinquents.
Yes, I realize no system is ever perfect, and there are always "exceptions" and so forth. And ultimately... we're trying to change the fundamentals of how we thick, away from greed.
In the meantime, however, I guess I will just have to be satisfied with being both a lousy Capitalist and a lousy Collectivist. But hey... at least it's something to be good at!
How about YOU? Where do you stand on all this? Are you a good capitalist, or a socialist, or libertarian, or something else? What do you have to offer to, or add to, this discussion? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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Capitalism, communism, democracy, religious state, monarchy and anything else can all be good if the individuals, at every level, act ethically. Once you remove ethics, no matter how well a system is designed, it will be bad. I don’t think that capitalism is more bad because once you remove ethics and individuals act out of selfish interest alone and become exploitative and corrupt, any system becomes bad. It might be more obvious in capitalism so people see the system in itself as bad.
And right there, I believe you have effectively distinguished between ideology and functional reality. Many humans are inherently selfish, deceitful and scheming... you need look no further than a community like Steemit. Exploitation and manipulation of the system runs rampant. So yes, you pretty much summed it up.
odd things happen when people think 2D in a 3D world.
Indeed.
I mostly worry about people thinking in 3D in a 4D world... where D4 = "over time."
I see too much described as "healthy self-interest" that might be perfectly reasonable today... but will put them in a pit of doom, 20 years from now.
But I tend to be a consequential thinker.
If I cut down the tree, I'll have firewood in the cold winter, but no shade in the hot summer.
When they are standing there with the axe, most people don't think ahead to summer.
amazing....you can accurately predict the future?
what's the price of steem or bitcoin going to be next week?
Would you provide me a chart showing the exact times of 'dips' and 'peaks' for the next month?
I need some funding to buy some trees.....and the land to put them on.
Well, technically speaking, any one of us could be hit by a bus and die the next time we're near a road. In which case, anything we planned for next week is moot. So does that suggest we should not use predictive reasoning?
Can I predict the future?
If I fertilize my lawn, the fertilizer might might run off during the next rain storm, into the pond at the end, and the fish will die. Then I have no fish to eat. If I get hit by a piece of flying debris from space and die tomorrow, it's irrelevant to me, but at least my kids might have fish to eat.
A lot of people don't think beyond "I can have a green lawn!"
No, I can't predict the future... but everything is a cost/benefit analysis of the next step. At least for me.
But your approach may be different.
I predict if you have a tree near your house.
that you should be very aware of high winds..
How about 5D?
be serious.
5D exist
prove it.
draw a picture.
There are other dimensions than the physical
got any proof?
You can't see it with your 5 senses
I've been challenging myself to reevaluate some of my views on socialism vs. Capitalism. Mostly I lean towards, take care of yourself and nobody else will ever have to. I am VERY opposed to anyone forcing their values onto anyone else, which means I am not a fan of formal "Helping" programs. Yet, I find I am a big fan of volentary charities and assisting those who are trying to help themselves.
I don't have a label, but I usually tend to identify with capitalism and Freedom freaks. :)
This was a good read, and I hope I will reread it, because I felt a little triggered a couple of times and that usually means I need to consider an idea further.
We need more capitalism education and less socialism education. It's so lovely in empowerment once you understand you can go out and make your own money not having to rely on someone else to do things for you. 😳🎩
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Polarized thinking ;)
I like walking too :P leaving the system is to abandon many things that humanity has worked to make possible.
For things to change, people need to evolve consciousness and think at a higher level. It takes a lot of work to learn how to think and learn how to learn better. We fool ourselves and are our own worst enemy in many cases, if not most, cases. Things can change for the better without government deciding it all, if people unit eon principles and don't support certain things. We can make new ways of living. We can stop supporting certain industries and no longer feed the super rich with our money.
Maybe an "in between". I do believe in Capitalism but I also believe that there is a huge disproportionate amount of people who through no fault of their own are on the side of "the have nots" in this World
This may or may not be relevant to your post but I was reading some Commentary recently about how some groups of people think. And in particular it was spotlighting the Alt. Right here in the US and the flawed mentality that some of them have. For instance ,many believe that a person's position in Life is based on Self Determination and Choices. But scientific data just does NOT support this. It rather points toward genetic predisposition as a main indicator in determining social and economic position in this World.
I think of course that could be a simplisitc way to look at things but there is some Truth to it. I am not trying to sound better than thou or mean but just being brutally honest as we all have seen or come into contact with those individuals who regardless of how determined they are to be really successful they just do not have what it takes to be able to make it to that Level. It's just not in there "wiring" or DNA. Heck, some I have seen just do not have the perspective to even connect the dots to see that being persistent and determined can really pay off. They cannot even comprehend that concept in it's most basic form.
No matter how hard they try. And as I say I'm not trying to be insulting but it is what it is !!
So sometimes I look at that and say well Capitalism is great for some but for others born into this World NOT so much. Consequently, as I referred to earlier I am a "In betweener"
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