Thinking devoted to the task of survival is a different task than thinking as a way to create happiness. At times it makes sense to emphasize thinking for survival. Without survival happiness is not a possibility. Without surviving somewhat above the subsistence level happiness is not very likely. Even when there is no clear and immediate danger to lives in general, you may have noticed that levels of subsistence are beginning to decline. Affluent lifestyles for the majority are becoming harder to maintain. Reversal of that trend will require, at least for a while, devoting more mental energy to the task of survival and putting the happiness quest on a back burner for a while.
Gratification comes from fantasy free thinking but it is the deferred form of gratification. It is substantial and outweighs any negatives over time but the rewards are not immediate.
This is the essence of fantasy free thinking. Here goes.
Start by understanding and accepting that:
Life in the physical sense is temporary.
Uncertainty is normal for living things and that is the the way of the world and the universe. Uncertainty can be reduce somewhat but efforts to eliminate all uncertainty and risks create more uncertainty and not less.
Basic questions have no known answers. These are questions like: What is life? What is consciousness? Is consciousness independent of life? Why are we here? Is life a gift or an obligation? These have to be accepted as currently unknown. Explanations must be treated as guesses because that is what they are.
Laws of dominance and subservience are the mechanism that determine the outcomes of human activities. Perhaps a different system that is based on love, kindness and giving would be better but the system we have is in place is what we have to deal with. Almost all people replace this harsh system mentally and conjure up a better sounding fantasy.
The average person is not in a moment by moment kill or be killed situation. For most, it is just the opposite. When the world’s population is observed as a whole, it is clear that violence, and dominating behavior are the go to methods of making gains. Generally, the larger the group is, the more corruption there will be in the group. The more centralized and consolidated the leadership is within a large group, the more corrupt the leadership will be.
On an individual level dominance and subservience is hardly noticeable. In a free society, dominance and subservience issues are settled by agreements that benefit both parties. A cop directing traffic in an intersection is in a dominant position over all the people in cars. Who would prefer that the cars be in charge? In everyday life , for most, the dominance and subservience factor become like calm waves in a still pond.
In large aggregations of people the competition is brutal. Various countries in the world are constantly trying to dominate one another. Leaders everywhere are trying to gain and use more and more power. The more power a leader acquires, the more corrupt that leader will be. Peaceful coexistence is common, just not among large separate aggregations like whole countries. Peace that may be present in your own life does not mean peace is universal and normal.
Life in the United States is going to get very difficult. The economy is going to collapse. We can only guess the consequences to each and every person. All who are in touch with reality will be better off than those who are not.
What everyone can do is understand what it means to be poor. Any person living below the subsistence level is poor of course. Those living but absolutely unable to avoid discomfort and misery are poor. For most though, poverty is a state of wanting. Getting doesn’t actually seem to have much utility in terms satisfying a wanting obsession. It may make sense to some to look at the wanting obsession in the light of reality. Wanting, itself may not actually be that good of thing.
The truth is a hard sell. Fantasy Free Economics gains readers one at a time. Major search engines simply do not list blogs which disagree with their political agenda. As long as folks share the link to this blog and others speaking out against the grain, the truth will at least trickle into the public consciousness.
Views: 5
