The definition of growth to individuals is subjective, right. But there’s one thing that binds our collective definition, at least for the lots of lapo babies, was shaped by the struggles we’ve been through, and that is because that’s all we’ve known.
Now, switch to the other side of life, where we have everything in abundance, there’s no struggle for food, there’s no poverty stricken homes, no illnesses, good humans are everywhere, and we have leaders that care, then, our definition of growth will definitely be different because it’ll be shaped by the world we already know, a perfect world.
There are people who currently live something close to a perfect world, the kind of world we dream of giving to our children, and those are the “Nepo babies” or “Old money” people. These ones, at least, from the outside, have a perfect world.
They have illnesses, I know, but they can afford to use the best hospital there is. They starve sometimes, I know, but it’s not because they do not have the money to eat, it’s probably because what they crave is not within their immediate environment, but in another country. Oh, they have family issues too, I know, but it’s most likely not because they are jealous of each other’s glory because their parents already prepared their glories before they were born.
Oh, they do not feel the impact of bad leadership because they have dual citizenship and can easily run to another country where they have actual leaders that care. Oh, they enjoy nepotism too, a lot. They may not merit the list, but they are sure to get the position or the opportunity because their life was not structured around struggle.
To these set of people, growth is defined differently. Growth is not survival for them, it is wanting to build something outside the norm. Growth is not making sure they don’t stay hungry, it is making sure they contribute to world’s food security. Growth is not looking for money to fix their health, it is building a system that makes sure their health challenges are permanently resolved even if it means spending all their lives in one laboratory on an island. Growth to these people is not avoiding the village people, it is trying to reunite their forefathers’ aunts and uncles to make their family large and happy once again.
So, you see? These are the ones that currently have a near-perfect life.
Growth can happen and it happens without the typical struggles we know. We don’t have to go through hell just to grow. If the resources are available, individuals grow very fast, which translates to a constantly growing world too. The world will keep getting better because we don’t want to transform the perfect world into the kind where the upcoming generations will start struggling.
Some people built what we have now, and from history, not all of them are from poor backgrounds. Not all of them have terminal illnesses. Not all of them knew hunger, not all of them ran from village people. In fact, their stories ranged from quitting Harvard not because of money, but interest, to using their dad’s garage (which is not even a place a poor dad would have), to starting life in their dad’s car, and so many atypical struggles that we know.
So, yeap, struggles shape us because that’s all we know, but if we were born into a perfect world, our growth would most likely be shaped by the zeal to keep making the world perfect, not because we want to escape struggles.