The problem with society today is that we are all under an illusion.
When you were a child, did you ever think why am I here with food, shelter, & a family while in another part of the world there is children with none of these things.
I believe many of us question this when we are kids. But as we grow up, these questions gradually wither away as we become normalised to our society.
I am not saying the system we have is necessarily a bad one but I do believe some things are misaligned.
The system we have has given rise to some of the most amazing technological innovations in the history of time. It drives us to produce but to what end.
Well, one of the core values of today’s society is consumerism. Being able to broadcast your value though your capacity to consume. It makes sense, if this is what our peers value, then our mating value increases if we can perform well at this.
But at the same time, there is those who are stuck at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Without food, shelter, or health.
Some of the greatest minds & athletes of our time may have been born in these conditions.
There are vast amounts of land unclaimed in certain countries & I have also heard recently Joe Rogan mentioning that you could house the entire world population in Texas.
There are vast amount of resources been put to driving the consumerism cycle. Sales companies, consultancy companies for the sales companies, personal shoppers.
Once again, this all makes sense, as if you show me where the incentives are, I can show you how people are going to behave.
I haven’t even mentioned some of the environment problems we are blind to. Empires have a history of going to the point where the damage they do is irrevocable before realising. Maybe the human civilisation will do the same thing. Maybe not. Maybe Elon Musk might save us.
So what’s the solution to all this. Well, of course, that is a tricky one. It would probably necessitate a reform of the whole capitalist system with a complete revision of how we are incentivised to behave. It would need to be a collected effort of a large number of experts & even if a system was devised, implementation seems like it would be near impossible.
However, in the short term, I am excited about the rise of blockchain & cryptocurrency systems which can incentivise participants to act in a different way. Especially, governmental applications.