Who would have imagined that we would be living such a rich existence in 2017? Even with our experience of social growth and mathematical understanding of compounding and exponential growth, how could we have anticipated such choices?
Although there is turmoil everywhere you look (some manufactured, some occurring naturally, and much that is exaggerated to drive popularity and financial returns), we are truly living in the greatest time in human history. We may disagree with how things are run from a political, fiscal, or monetary policy standpoint - but technology is giving us so many options. Just look at how many crypto currencies are now available! We may be restricted with our "sovereign" government currencies, but the movement of decentralization is making a place where everyone has a voice and is free to exchange and experience life in a way that is more pure, more honest to our true identity.
With this rise in technology comes a multitude of distractions. The struggle in our daily lives is the decision tree we must work through regarding which technologies to adapt and whether the trade-off between better and faster is worth the potential downside of moving away from maintaining a simple, unencumbered life of joy and fulfillment. Please note, this is far from a minimalist spiel ... rather that of an individual looking to raise awareness around how to live life purposefully, to break away from the mold of the status quo.
Anyone with an understanding of the history of technology will tell you that, through evolution, even our physical bodies could be argued as a technology for our brain and/or spirit (depending on your perspective on life). More widely, anything from speaking, to the written word, to any tool that is outside of our physical body is simply an opportunity to leverage who we are for the greatest life experience.
With that in mind, how do we decide which technologies to leverage to create efficiencies and joy? How do we prevent ourselves from buying into the hype and losing sight of how we spend our time and energy on things that are actually important. Which technology is creating a space for increase human consciousness and interaction? Is technology taking over our lives, and are we okay with that?
In short, the answer is "yes, we should be okay with that." Life has become much about flows of information thanks to technology. Those flows add value in by increasing IQ, EQ, life span, quality of life, access to resources (which reduced the number of and "need" for wars), etc. The primary downsides to technology are when the power of the few coerce and negatively impact the less-powerful masses.
Consider money:
Money is arguably one of man-kinds greatest creations (a far second to the wheel) because, in a historical context, it removed the need for the cumbersome qualities of bartering. More specifically, it made trading goods and services easier and encouraged the establishment of cities and more effective trading routes. The problems arise when the few with power monopolize currencies, which happened almost immediately throughout history as kings and emperors would impose taxes and attempt to limit the use of other kingdom's currencies.
Fast forward thousands of year to today. Even with all the technology at our disposal, we're still being coerced by defenders of the status quo because they have gained power by extorting the system in place. For all the inherent flaws with "money" (yes, I'm including cryptos), virtually nothing is done without financial incentives as the foundation. However, we now have marketplaces and movements to decentralize the way we exchange goods - all in an effort to generate new forms of health, wealth, and opportunity. To help families and individuals flourish, to make communities stronger and to turn nations into neighbors..... or at least that's the pie in the sky.
I'm writing this post because I found SteemIt and want to contribute to a community where people can contribute and be "judged" based on their contribution, not some superficial BS that groups individuals into classes. As long as there is a decent audience for my thoughts, I will continue to write posts here on finance and life because it is important to support movements that harness the technology and life philosophies we subscribe to. Without throwing around the over-used "be the change you wish to see", it is essential to note how much of an opportunity there is here... Unfortunately, we did not have the foresight to build the world we are experiencing, nor could we have comprehended the implications of our current system on how money, technologies, and economic systems help some and marginalize others. But this dance with what we were born into is ours to lead - skillfully and with awareness of our power.
Do we want to use technologies that offer a platform for new forms of money and exchange to make the world a better place, or will we use it for the benefit of our personal lives without regard for how it impacts other living beings now and into the future? Who will inherit our efforts and our social norms? And are we okay with that?
Every single second we are alive, we get to decide what we believe, how we spend our time and energy, which technologies we buy into, and how we promote our philosophies about these topics.... Every second we have a choice - whether or not we act is completely up to us.