I don’t know about you guys, but learning about how Marx saw capitalism really resonated with me and even disturbed me because of how accurate it seems to be. No one actually likes going to work 5 days a week even if that person, like Dr. J., LOVES what he/she actually does. It is not the action itself that necessarily makes one dissatisfied, but the very fact that the action is one’s living, one’s source of income. And this really got me thinking about alternatives—about HOW the human population could possibly come together and decide on a more fulfilling, enjoyable, and still sustainable system for living in general. I personally believe that such an alternative is completely possible, but I think that the systematic world in which we find ourselves today is the main hurdle in finding that alternative. Since infants, we are socialized into these kind of lives where adults MUST earn money and MUST go to work. The hardest part is imagining if the world were a blank slate: how COULD people get what they actually need to survive then, and how COULD people find a higher sense of fulfillment in everyday activities? How should one go about trying to imagine a completely new system of “economics” outside of capitalism?
While many, if not most people, probably reject the importance of forming such an imaginary society outside of our cultural and social influences, I would argue that this is in fact the most important thing to do if people really want change. If people only knew of such a system, they could then view it in relation to the economic system as we know it and better identify HOW to change it. This would take huge education reform, since any huge transition like this would mean that everyone would need to be informed about it and get on board. Not saying this kind of thing could actually happen, and not saying that everyone should want such change, but I think its interesting to think about what such a change would need and what it would mean for the planet in times to come. Anyone interested in big change? Anyone interested in emerging from his/her limited perspective to see if there’s a better system out there in the land of imagination?
Karissa,
ReplyDeleteI mean who WOULDN'T want to try to build a new system? (Not trying to be biased or anything), but the chances of it being successful are slim to none. There would be too much work involved, and to no surprise, just like with anything else, we would have those who oppose the idea. It would be a complete miracle to see a change in this country; that is, a positive change.
We definitely need some change in the U.S., but finding a consensus among all of the people as to what that change would be would be nearly impossible. I know this would never actually work, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we made every state in America its own country. Each new transformed state would then have a different form of government so that citizens would be allowed to choose whichever state to live in based on the system they agreed with the most. Sometimes I wonder if our country is too big to be governed the way it currently is. Is the population of America too so large that a vast majority may never be appeased?
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I definitely believe there is a better system out there...