At what point does digitalization and AI become too high of a risk for revisionism in its fluidity - where what we know and rely on as true or historically reported or occurring being influenced to appear differently, erasing the initial or sharable content?
Moving away from physical assets to an extremely digitalized world, and especially with the advent of AI, we run a risk of books, articles, definitions, even images and film, being edited in real time - or appearing differently to different individuals, depending on which link or stream they have, or when. This danger in this regard is Fahrenheit 451 on steroids. Maybe someone or some groups could use AI to rewrite your favorite audiobook, giving the main character an insufferable voice - to deter further readership if that book became "non-preferred" by one ideology, group, competitor, or another. Maybe two people could read the same article with a slightly or drastically different text catered, causing an argument. Trying to refer back to something, we could find it completely changed. This is also the wet dream of Post Modernist ideology, which abhors the existence of all fixed information, and has declared a ridiculous and unwinnable war on objective reality. Objective reality will always exist, but people can be forced out of touch with it. That is a specific form of psychological abuse called gaslighting. Who would want to live in a world full of gaslit people? Mapped onto nature, it's something like if a technology was deployed to rip apart genes and distort how animals and nature behave and adapt, or do not. It's confusing the nature of things. Scrambling information to cause such confusion and an overall lack of sense of reality is a known method that individuals who suffer from extreme personality disorders, and their amplification as totalitarian groups, will use (consciously, semiconsciously, or unconsciously themselves as abusers) to cause victims to become confused. It is deployed so that can the person or group can then assert control over the victim - and force compliance by controlling the narrative for a now subservient and pliable, more vulnerable mind. It is to take away the person's fundamental agency. Obviously, not everyone excited about digital services or AI has any of that ridiculous and tacky use of time on Earth in mind for themselves or their organizations. Streaming, digitalization, and perhaps AI in some instances are not harmful inherently. This is all how tools are used, that what matters. But some clear labeling, consumer choice, and probably reasonable regulations will need to take place in order to mitigate the risks. The problem areas are: 1) manipulation of legacy material in order to cause confusion and 2) labor abuse issues that translate to a smaller market with less buying power, hurting the overall economy along with workers' wellbeing. Beyond this, we all have a personal responsibility as consumers to think about how far in the digital direction we want to go - considering if and when we consumer digital content. Do we want to wait until more protections are in place for some services, to guard against their use for criminal manipulation of reality and our sovereign consciousness? Will we need to print out - or screenshot and describe - articles before we discuss them with friends and colleagues? At some point, it becomes exhausting, but people becoming exhausted is another tactic that hyper control-diseased individuals and organizations will sadly tend to use. This is done consciously or unconsciously in order to wear people down, and coerce them into accepting certain less acceptable terms and conditions. This is why having reserves of energy available to address these kinds of issues become important. And if we know others do not have that energy, like anyone who is being overworked and underpaid, we can make sure to communicate thoughtfully on their behalf as well. Most people, including most technology enthusiasts, do not have harmful intentions. Often times, it is the very people who think they are doing good by controlling others that can become the most blind to implications of actions. We saw this with the fallout regarding social media issues, like child safety or screen addictions. But that is why we have free consumer choice, and laws and regulations as needed in free societies with individual agency to advocate without retribution, and why we have conscious business principles and practices that matter to most human beings. I hope we can all find the courage and presence of mind to fix these concerns together. And I do think most people, at the bottom of their hearts, want to live in a generally sane, enjoyable, creative, and healthy world.
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Yes, the internet can make people sick. Controlling individuals and groups can, too. But we don't need to let that happen. Although not limited to online, unfortunately there are groups who are not interested in wellbeing, freedom of choice, or fostering constructive critical thinking, but merely in power and control. We are all susceptible to their influence.
With an explosion of deeply personal individual data available online (see here, here, & here) - and with many people traversing into information silos which include misinformation and manipulation rather than educational empowerment, it's a good idea to be aware. That is, of how we are choosing to engage in the world - both online and in reality. Not everything we have been led to has happened as organically as we might have believed. There are people who have decided how they want to lead us, and not only in ways that could benefit us. Sometimes yes, many times no. But it's our responsibility to continuously foster self-reliance so we can correct for misbehavior on the parts of the machinations of others. We can reclaim our own lives using some of the knowledge and skills highlighted in this book. The bottom line is: true spirituality cannot be mimicked by con artists, those who persuade to control rather than collaborate or empower in meaningful ways. A contrived approach will always create cognitive dissonance. True spirituality and faith - including synchronicity and divination (or signs), mythology and religion, is intrinsic and woven in amongst our natural life, coming from inside ourselves and originating within the energetic core of designs of nature. It is not merely "constructed," or genuinely constructible, via the mere abstract representations of life we see in data, mechanistics, and their uses. The simultaneously dynamic-embodied and non-local functions of personal spiritual experiences, verified empirically by a combination of personal insight and material facts, is more a process of art making than of "programming." There is only one true process, and it is written into living, dynamic, free-flowing natural law and the mysteries of quantum physics. This means that our life design is itself truly alive. Not as Frankenstein was alive, not as a shade of that numinous experience and eternal contemplations, but as human beings are and as nature is. There is no split between perceiver and perceived, only distinction. Machines do carry traces of the numinous quality, from the imaginative force of human consciousness that made them. But they are not our origins - life and nature itself is, as heaven within is. Despite our attempts to play God, despite being made in the image and mini-creators ourselves, we will never be God. And our machines will never be the source of consciousness, choice, and spirit. We are not machines. They are our creation, ourselves being a creation made by nature's transcendent, first-mover God. That means any attempt to program us like machines will be resisted; we will naturally reject the implant of the computer-mind lifestyle in every sense, or pay the price in dysfunction and despair. There is only so far we can wander from the Garden of life before we are swallowed up by an emptiness so destructive it is unspeakable, unthinkable. Everything in us rebels from that kind of spiritual bleakness, the nihilism that sees the human soul as a machine, as cable of being superceded by "machine learning." God is an artist and a classical scientist, more like an alchemist - only humans can be engineers. Because God is, and we think about what is, and thus make choices with our freewill. Our engineering must be informed by this reality and can never supersede it, not really even if it wanted to - so it must never do so in our minds. That would be a delusion of grandeur, with predictably terrible consequences. It's time we all reflect on the implications of works like A Clockwork Orange - the understanding that the human soul will not be conquered by either violence nor by pavlovian conditioning. That our moral responsibility remains our own, and society can only facilitate reflection and conversation, not mandated adherents to an externally sourced authoritarian dictate. When external discipline doesn't match natural law, including the bright moral and rich creative nature in humanity, it cannot govern our behaviors for long, nor well. The more we step outside our own experiences, maintaining a discerning mind, the more fully we see life itself and can learn what treasures mythology and contemplation give birth to eternally. We can use the internet as a tool to compliment this discovery practice, but it will never take its place or lead us instead of God (who speaks through organic and quantum realities written in nature). We will also not continue to be segmented into contrived, misleading information silos - not if we unplug and remember our embodied life's reality. That reality will save those who have been trapped in pods of the online Matrix, or in excessively isolated and distorted groups out in the world. Don't let the internet snatch your body experience from you, and don't let mobs of digital or material haters control your life. It's okay to be who you are, and whoever you dynamically want to become, simultaneously. That reality that heals is all of this is actually the love of other people and nature, the light of reason cultivated always as we learn greater discernment, and the special dynamic calling inside each of us - to express ourselves and connect with real, individual meaning and purpose. We find out how to do this based on undisrupted inner feeling, and clarity - it is furthered with the material of our own, individual experiences in the context of dynamic culture, society, thought and nature. Anyone who pretends to be God and thinks they can overwrite nature's design is mistaken. Anyone who thinks they can upend faith and purpose in favor of soulless programming, to gain mere power over others, is mistaken. Life will curve that trajectory so fast, it will make your mind spin. Netflix released a documentary about online activity and its effects on human society, political polarization or extremism, groupthink, and mind-body health. It is called, "The Anti-Social Network: Memes to Mayhem." Making art and trying to help the world can be beautiful activities. But without critical thinking, without diversity of thought in tandem with objective fact verification, and without being aware of how narratives and movements can be used by nefarious or unhelpful foreign operatives and create local extremists, all kinds of movements can end up causing harm rather than being beneficial. I don't know what the solution is except to again make sure to spend time in nature and connect with irl people and healthy groups - maybe wellness, volunteering to clean up or beautify spaces, working for ethical businesses, and spending time offline all are good, refreshing activities to try. The main thing should be to learn to think in nuance rather than black and white as much as possible. And we can all try to lower our rhetoric from escalating language, unless there is a true emergency, and even then do our best to verify and participate productively. Humans aren't perfect and we are going to make mistakes, especially young humans who are still learning, and especially those who are deeply impacted by excessive digitalization. Everyone, especially younger generations, are going to need help and direction getting back into a more predominantly "analog" life, and make that life meaningful. It will be scary for them, they will feel disoriented at first. It isn't the perfect or chaotic world of their own online, it isn't as intoxicating most of the time. But experiencing things like exercise, nature, and real, wholesome community are a much better high than anything online. It's our real life, our bodies and the nature that informs them are sources of amazing experiences and adventure, and we are made to use them for those reasons. I keep reminding us overall as team humanity that we need to have grace for other people during this time, because so many are wrapped up in the online world and its traces of both power and harm. Unplug from the Matrix as much as you can, team. Our irl world can be full of art and meaning too, and no matter what happens we can't ignore nature's amazing and terrifying reality. The philosophers can help us grapple with our human experiences, but ultimately our lives are are own, unique artwork. Bless ♡ If the outer part of the circle is optimal, and closer to bottom is less developed, how far along are you in this moment on these metrics? How full is your circle currently? Make a list of three areas that could use development, then create three action steps to advance in each of those areas of life. If you aren't sure how to do that, get insights from experts or therapists. Then check back in each month to take note of your desired progress. Our real life is artwork too. As an America I enjoyed the inclusive environment of my public school, even though at times classes were demotivating to me because they did not pose a challenge, and in other cases demotivating because I wasn't good at or interested in certain subjects.
The general feeling for most Americans was that you are good at some things and not at others, and this is no cause for animosity against those who excel where we are not motivated or able at such a time to do so. It appears times have sadly changed, and competition with ourselves to be good at something, with the grace to let go of where we are not, has been substituted by hysterical, professional score keeping. This is as the predominant, institutional mindset has been shifted to a compulsive and rage-driven "equality of outcomes." But that as a project is not possible. It is also a random goal that serves the needs of no one. What does serve everyone's needs is freedom of choice, focusing on individual differences as opposed to inaccurately essentialistic and grotesquely simplified group stereotypes. Identity has become the substitute for substance, uniqueness, and situational nuance. Although shared experiences are part of who we are and are beautiful, meaningful, and real - so are individual differences, which must play a much more significant role in a free and open society. That all being said, I wish to share something interesting I learned about school options when I lived in Berlin, Germany in the mid 2000s. It went against my democratic instincts at first, but there the school system is set up so that entry into high school can go one of three different routes: 1) Trade schools 2) Normal high schools 3) Advanced academics high schools Entry into one of the three is based on student choice, teacher feedback, schoolwork, and test scores. Once in, a student can still transfer to a different kind of school after experiencing the one they entered, as we know this all happens at a younger age and things may change. Then the first year after high school, all students have a mandatory paid internship year in order to build work experience, usually in the military or medical support roles, but also in the private sector should the student have another particular career field in mind. It's become clear to me that we need to find a balance between having high standards and making sure we don't leave students behind, or ask too much of them at times - due to circumstances or interests. It may not need to be a three different schools scenario, should we try something like this here. It could be different classes and levels for different students, culminating in different signifiers on the high school diploma, or adding accompanying certificates. By now we as a society have basically realized that college is expensive and doesn't always, or even usually in cases, generate high ROI. Trade schools tend to do so, and for more people - while we are very much in need of more skilled tradespeople. That doesn't mean we can or should remove essential core courses like general science, math, business, home economics, and civics. But it does mean that diversity could play out in the future in a manner that is more accepting of individual student goals, aspirations, and aptitudes without causing anyone to feel bad or abandoned about various different choices and scenarios. It took me until my mid 20s to really appreciate math and science, for example, and even then I am much less interested in those studies than in literature, art, psychology, business, and civics courses. Maybe someone else has the total opposite predilection. But usually we have to wait until college to explore those differences, and even then could be put off by mandatory advanced classes in one or the other subject fields. Personally, I think that is a real and rather embarrassing reason why so many "post modern" fanatics attack math and science in general. Perhaps they are tired of being forced to study it when they have personally had enough in the mandatory academic realm, following some introductory courses. I have heard the same sentiments from others regarding Shakespeare, the Romantics, or Psychology, all of which I could study every day for the rest of my life - but which others find exhausting and boring, especially if it's been required of them for a degree, etc. I think if the real free world (the liberal and libertarian, centrist-focused sphere) had a catchphrase, it may be: "You do you, just don't prevent me from being me as an individual, and let's try to respect each other." Obviously, we need some common and introductory understandings to grow our individuality from - let's say a Freshman level of familiarity with various subjects. But from there, maybe students should have more customization and specialization options. The golden rule for such a approach would be this: Respect our lanes as different students and, hopefully in relevant cases, as qualified professionals one day. That means let's not assume we know more than others who have studied topics particularly or further. If someone has extensive knowledge of the art and science of nutrition, respect that. If someone has extensive knowledge of ranching, respect that. Of nuclear science, respect. Math, respect. That doesn't mean we need to become unquestioningly obedient or blindly defer, because we have all certainly noticed the corruption of positions of influence due to hateful ideologies, or being bought off by various political and economic actors. But that is a sociological, discernment, and character problem most of us will face at some point - ideally curved by responsibly wielded free speech, thoughtful dissent, and the reliable process of intuitive reason and enquiry, maybe creative practices and unconscious revelations that prove to be spiritually sound play a role too. It does mean more humility and open-mindedness, which is like the water that melts the wicked witch that is our social media discourse, I reckon. It may even mean in practice returning to an emphasis on physical books and in person, curated libraries for students and youth, to again help decrease the intensity of often demented and disturbed social pressures online, remove incentive to have AI do homework and prevent us from developing thinking skills, as well as lock down actual materials so they can't be edited and revised in real time by AI for example, all of which unfortunately has been sewing discord and fostering ignorance. Technology is also amazing and can help with so much, perhaps creating zoom sessions so people can connect with different classes, or helping to organize massive data systems in ways which ensure education can be leveraged for positive, soulful, accurate, fruitful, and humanistic ends. As free beings, it is up to us to design and to choose the future. Educational innovation has many bright opportunities for benefitting and continuing to create our free world, loving humanity. Photos from The Secret of Kells, telling a story of the Enlightenment It is no secret that the wealthy wield much power. And it is no secret that mobs and groups wield much power acting together.
As was stated in Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." But is that always lived out that way? Groupthink is notorious for fostering poor decisions. The difference between that horror, and the excellence of "the wisdom of crowds" is vast. One is "collective" and the other is "collaborative." One is reactionary and the other is deliberated and intuitive, group-sourcing of a multiplicity of wisdom. The latter, collaborative approach, is an asset and strength in the democractic-oriented roles within our broader republican democracy. The former "collective" thoughtlessness and blind loyalties involved are a force the threatens to destroy all of the civic work, unwisely on most occasions. Groups that allow dissent and make their adherents free to come and go, and allow competing groups to exist are stronger groups with better ideas, making a better overall "wisdom of crowds" outcome that offsets the dangers widely recognized in "groupthink." Wealth, even when available for anyone to pursue in free societies, is notorious for outsized influence as well. It is part of what groups unite in many places to counter-balance. However, wealth as one metric and incentive in meritocracy, though obviously not solely an indicator of merit and skill, tempers the instinct to completely discount it as a player. Old Money families throughout history used to have traditions of virtue that they fostered, including preparing generations for leadership roles in the military, clergy, education, and mercantilism. This accumulation of hundreds if not thousands of years of family knowledge came along with sound financial planning and investments practices, and with civic charitable works like establishing museums and public parks, patronizing the arts, and starting companies that provide jobs. These jobs are now paid, in the modern day, as opposed to working involuntarily without pay, and thus restricting employee personal choice or freedom of associations. So we ended serfdom and slavery by opening society, allowing it to be it easier for more families (and individuals without families, or with chosen families) to start building their own wealth and influence outside of Old Money metrics of success. New Money is an advent of the Free World. It may seem scandalous to Old Money thinking, especially if those families have members that are not learning the skills from their elders and are failing, squandering, or simply going through misfortunes with chances they are given. Those misfortunes are why society with grace does not abandon people simply for failing or faltering in the the market or with life skills. That happens frequently in history, success of parents or ancestors is not a guarantee that children will or can replicate those accomplishments, especially in the Free World. Jane Austen wrote about it at length, her family having gone through similar struggles and faced difficult choices. That is simply life. But New Money is an idea novel to the free world, that whether or not parents and ancestors built necessary skills and investments for their childrens' futures, any person, without a penny to their name, can start to build wealth and influence for their own family, and learn the skills to upkeep and teach it. On the "group wisdom" side of things, we create as many equal opportunities for this as we can in society. We incentivize fostering skills in various arenas of personal interest, when in demand or needed by the world. We provide funding and spaces for learning trades, skills, and leadership training courses. This means that Old Money will not always run each arena and space in every moment, but since the market is not the political sphere, there really is an endless expansion of opportunity for roles to play and no ones "place" is threatened outside of the necessity fo retirement at some point. Not all opportunities will be strictly leadership roles, but all compensated and given freedom of choice on where to invest one's time and energy, as a worker or manager, to the extent humanly possible - meaning different companies, non-profit and public organizations, and different roles within those to be explored. Even the political, tax-dollar funded sphere in the Free World has countless local, state, national, and international positions for individuals to train for, consider, and apply to participate in. There is always turnover and people often change careers as they wish to, that is again what it means to be free. That turnover all provides space for fresh influx and insights as other generations grow into adulthood and wish to participate. That is life. Humanity is filled with unique individuals, who are not cogs in a machine, but have unique souls and dreams. Each one is important and has skills they can contribute, or even just their presence to their loved ones and community is a blessing. That is why the Free World tries to provide as many opportunities to individuals as possible - while also having the humility and hands off mindset to understand that individuals can and must be free to make their own choices. We do not want a Clockwork Orange society wherein people are compelled to make one choice or another, outside of criminality or demonstrably unethical behavior. And even in the criminal system a society of grace wants to restore criminals to some sense of humanity, and enable them to make amends, even as they may be apprehended. That too can only be voluntary, every soul is free and if someone does not genuinely experience remorse, all coercion is like putting lipstick on a wound. We can encourage, incentivize, and disincentivize behavior as consumers, voters, law enforcement, spiritual consultations, and various leadership roles, all gained through tested skill. But at the end of the day, we need to allow for the freedom of the spirit that exists. Trying not to allow for it is a delusion, one that can be dangerous or foolish at worst, and impossible at best. That freedom is foundational to divine law, which is the living growth origin of natural law - enriching all of reality with its meaning, inside the artwork of life. That is how the Enlightenment of reason and law in partnership with origins in transcendent Faith grew, and will always grow, regenerate, and revitalize together. My practice PR Campaign for class last semester was to try to help decrease political polarization and increase good faith collaboration and intellectual empathy between American political parties, so hopefully we don't turn on each other and benefit forces abroad that have harmful goals for humanity. The other goal was to highlight through this campaign the need to empower workers in real rather than theoretical ways, and not destroy the economy in doing so.
I did notice positive impacts of messages and crossover between groups, although there are a lot of strong feelings from stakeholder individuals reflected in organizations. Here is my analysis of what element was a mishap and could be improved with more study, it also just might be a part of healing during these intense times when there are a lot of valid, challenging feelings being expressed by all stakeholders. Last year on my previous platform I tried to create guerrilla marketing in support of small business clients, who are frustrated with trying to market to a increasingly polarized public, in messaging that spoke both the general online language of conservatives and libertarians, and also of liberals and progressives. From my point of view I have tried to communicate the same messages to each using different words, so would hopefully be better understood and bridge gaps in understanding. The problem was that my use of terms in attempting to be understood by one or another group, tended to activate a lot of negative emotions in the other groups, which would feel & express extreme betrayal at times. They would do this in increasingly challenging ways for me to manage, emotionally - and I know vis versa. This is on top of my emotions & theirs surrounding distressing events & topics we were all trying to grapple with. I found that while I did build some connection & understanding, I also co-escalated tensions. Obviously, the polemic rhetoric included wasn't only coming from me, but my attempt to get in between had rather the energy of a mom knocking her kids' heads together who are fighting and telling them to cut it out - which was broadly it seems not appreciated. Although it reflected my exasperation & the tough love culture I grew up with, it is something that I would do differently if I been able to mitigate my own responses. These were heightened due to the ongoing trauma & anxiety stemming from events & my personal history. My view of life is that it's never reasonable to hold grudges, because if someone has done something awful, their journey with God to heal it is on them. But the intellect & our unconscious & body are sometimes not all in agreement there yet - with acceptance & forgiveness or letting go. It can take awhile after trauma or during flashbacks to remind ourselves the original trauma is not happening in the exact moment and of our abilities to advocate better for our needs. I think that was a challenge for every stakeholder in the discussions. I do think our country & world needs profound healing. That can include tough love & obviously in the moment if one is physically assaulted or attacked, etc includes the natural right to self defense. Because our brains notice negative news more & it gets more clicks, we engage with it more & feel the overwhelming feelings again & again - until it really becomes too much. We can then either make space from those reminders to recover, or deal with experiencing increased anxiety symptoms. I have tried to use humor, even dark humor, to cope with challenging discussions because it is often effective as a needed breather or can help unlock unconscious material related more intuitively to the issues. But it's clear this will be a long road, in terms of mitigating the effects of social media & processing events discussed. And I appreciate the feedback I have received - to take note of some of the effects of my participation in stressful communication styles that spiraled online. The mobs of angry people in streets again were especially hard because of experiences in the past, but that doesn't make it okay to also become a bully verbally or make others feel unsafe too. Next time I would rather stay calm & defend myself in proportion to what is physically going on around me, and verbally, with less polemics. Social media buy in is interesting. I knew those novel & escalating posts would get noticed, and so I allowed myself to be controversial to be heard more. For that reason & because of all the emotions that had built up & were released through that expression, I figured it was way better than everyone fighting in the streets again. It seems as though a lot of people were in the same boat, speaking more polemically even than the usual in our online wilderness. I guess all we can say now is: "oops." And try to process our emotions about the global situations & our own life issues on our own in a healthy way, maybe taking note of the feedback of others, even if delivered in a hard to receive manner from one another, in the heat of momentary stress & fears. I will be doing this process of deescalation & healing through prayer, reading about cPTSD, practicing a better schedule, eating enough, maybe making art offline, & then engaging in the Agora in different ways from there. Times are very challenging, but we each are tougher than the times, & for our loved ones we can rebuild frayed connections in places possible, forge new friendships too, try to keep discourse as civil as possible, and try to just overall let ourselves be human without destroying ourselves. That all translates to the micro and macro levels of interaction. Business is a fun game we get to play as humans. It fosters a lot of joy and creativity, and helps feed and run the world efficiently and prosperously.
Sadly, there are many misunderstandings, even in 2024, about the potential of business to create amazing and accessible inventions while growing the market. In free world countries, and hopefully the rest of humanity soon, most of us know that money is a means to an end. Seeking money as an end in and of itself, is a strange and probably pathological activity. Money is useful insofar as it revitalizes communities and helps us to adapt, innovate, and grow through good faith competition and collaboration. Not only morally, but from a business viewpoint, this makes sense. Healthy customers are longer customers, more customers with the power to buy means a bigger market to sell new and established products to. If customers are priced out by being underpaid or mistreated, businesses lose their lifelong value as consumers. And obviously, why would we want to live in a world where workers are subjected to sweatshops and dangers at work that are preventable? We don't. That's tacky. We are only here for a short time ultimately, although our legacies endure forever, in some form or another. So what do we value in life? Relationships, the beauty of the natural world, fun, innovation, adventures, etc. The promise of markets, of capitalism and private agency as opposed to top down centralized planning of entire economies, is that we can each freely upstart or collaborate, as employers and workers treated with respect, given many options to author our own and collaborative destiny as it relates to what we value. We are at the same time spiritual souls and living, dynamically interconnected earthly beings. The world is beginning to see how much both our values-based spirit and bodily-health reliant embodiment can be served and enhanced by our choices today. What do we want to spend our time on this Earth doing? Most would say, engaging with what we value, expressing ourselves well and necessarily, being as good to one another as we can, and sustaining the abundant ecosystems which we enjoy, and will need to be in dialectical with to maintain our wellbeing. Obviously, all business depends on the continued functioning of the planet. The buying power of free, fair markets - which are uniquely customer-focused, call us to an educated and empowered customer base, as worker-consumers and leaders worldwide. Sadly, some tacky, "wealthy" people want to hurt the market's buying power and reduce potential sales for companies by utilizing sweatshops, a common practice in a variety of global dictatorships and totalitarian systems that are focused on controlling and degenerating the public's interests. Those of us who know the impacts on not only on the soul, but on the constriction of the free market by such actions have deep sadness for whatever has possessed those people globally. One example is the push for cheap cars, and China has tried to blind us again with low price tags, rather than competing by paying and treating their workers well, removing forced labor from their economy, etc. Because their citizens live under draconian control without checks and balances on the one party rule - and competition is stifled by keeping so many individuals underpaid, they are not able to change this. Most citizens are workers, and in such conditions cannot afford to diversify or choose where they spend their capital as consumers, nor start their own businesses. They are not able to form labor unions if needed. It is so ironic for an ideological system based on alleged solidarity with workers, such as the CCP. But one might wonder if that is actually by design, not a fluke. Aside from the pages of lament about these very issues, what Communism ultimately advocates through the haze of verbiage are two things: a dictatorship and eventually no wages. A slavery-based dictatorship. Elites tell you where to work and you don't get paid. When one sees this clearly after all the smoke and mirrors of its propaganda, and observes how many times this has repeated as a scenario, with its author telling unions to stop advocating for higher wages and to instead work to "end wages..." Who are they kidding? The whole project was funded by his wealthy industrialist friend, and the text waxes poetic about slavery, absolutist monarchy, and serfdom. It is nothing but a literal reg flag. Surprisingly, many people live under the delusion that they would be in the small, benefitting party boss class, and are willing to harm workers by removing pay and options in a free society in order to get there. Those people are sickly mistaken, they will overwhelmingly likely be just as much enslaved and oppressed. They haven't done the math. Most of us would end up being ground down, there would be starvation and violence that would hit the vast majority, if not all of us eventually. It's interesting that the endless violence Marxism promotes to achieve these horrifying ends is exactly the description of the insanity that gripped the French Revolution in its most regressive phase. In that tragedy, following a brief reprise after a group of citizens fought back against everyone being wholesale slaughtered endlessly by individuals that did not respect any personal space or boundaries turning on each other, this chaos and terror resulted in Napoleon's rise to "restore order." What a coincidence. And knowing this, the Communists authored the same path forward. The directors of the same chaos and hate in Communism must have known that trajectory. Either consciously or unconsciously, their objective was obviously to create dangerous chaos without an end, and thus necessitate authoritarian regimes and loss or failure of liberties, which then created tacky, rigid oligarchies and impoverished citizens. I don't mean thrifty and self-reliant people who have their basic needs met, I mean ground down and brutalized sweatshop workers and often starvation. People who are happy with less don't need to construe this as shaming a minimalistic lifestyle. In fact, minimal stuff and maximum experiences is a great choice for a lot of people - more sporting events, more dances, more trips, more restaurants, etc. It's again not just about hoarding materialistic stuff. The reason the American Revolution did not have to go through that Terror/Marxism, and a reason the Free World doesn't suffer under it today (there are still issues with increasing inequality, but we maintain the right to vote, run for office, and can legally and more easily start our own businesses, negotiate our wages or join unions as necessary, etc) is that our system was designed specifically to address these issues. Our system provided checks and balances on power all the way up from local to state to national realms, as well as specific protections for the individual and the minority, within a majority vote and broader collaborative system of government. Importantly, it was phased in through educational programs that taught the underlying philosophy which birthed it to more and more stakeholders over time, basic education which is necessary for cultivating effective and responsible stewardship of this system. It did not go against nature, but sought to optimize natural law and human nature the best it could towards ideals, taking into account natural law and its roots in divine law. Natural law (organic nature) comes from divine law, which is the transcendent set of universalist human values and ethics. The spirit of these laws was encoded so as to be both preserved and adaptable over time. It recognizes the ideal and the practical as in dialogue, since we are both spirits and embodied, with fluctuating and adaptive virtues and passions. Because this intentional, long term planning approach was taken, with reason and faith working together, the free world was set intentionally up so that more and more people could become empowered/enlightened with the tools to be free to guide our own destinies and generally experience prosperity. By prosperity I mean the foundation as a warm and modest Middle Class. The American Dream is not a mansion with 50 vehicles, although people are free to do that. The American Dream is really the equal opportunity, perfected over time, that built the world's first Middle Class. The result really becomes no "working class" as a lower tier, because everyone has access to quality education, civic and social environments, local and ethical large businesses, travel, affordable housing, etc. This dream is achieved through free negotiations and protective legal rights, reasonable living wages (again obviously we can't all be paid $1,000 per hour, and most people don't find that necessary to happiness), DIY skills and the free time to utilize those - like weekends or perhaps 4 day workweeks, and housing options for many - including maybe condos with balcony gardens, etc. (In the modern era, not everyone needs or wants a large home, as family sizes tend to be smaller and some people even choose to be single or married without kids). City living could be safe, prosperous, and fun with lots of greenspaces and thriving events and businesses if designed well. Thus we could build up instead of out in a lot of places, while still providing affordable living options for empowered worker-customers to own. Everyone not only deserves, but the market requires, that kind of consumer-worker prosperity in order to drive demand for growth and innovation. What does one mean by growth? Growth means change, nature grows and changes constantly, and yet it doesn't require 10 planets to do it. Growth means a circular economy, refreshing itself and innovating in large or small ways. It doesn't mean expanding with simply "more" stuff, it means allowing newness within consistency. It also means recycling/up-cycling or second hand items, as well as experiences and hospitality or entertainment. Maybe it means exploring outerspace, if we can get to that point further together! I emphasize the economy because simply having the power to vote doesn't matter much if we all live in squalor and violence. So really, although democracy and government are sometimes easier or more pleasant for people to focus on, the reality is that we need to pay attention to both government and our economy History tells us that impoverished and suffering "free voters" send in criminals like Hitler or Hamas to power. It is hard to make good choices on an empty stomach. That is also why Marxism needs to be addressed and diffused, because it is a root of democracy failing around the world. It creates the deprivation and violence that lead to voters making harmful choices. In response to some confusion, I wan tot clarify: I don't write about this because I am an American "obsessed with money." Although money is an abstract representation of value and there is nothing wrong with it except how it is invested and spent. Money more importantly is a tool that has existed in some form or another as currency since the dawn of civilization. Trade is absolutely ridiculous without it - our world actually more hostile and competitive. Rousseau was wrong, there was no peace before civilization. As people look only to tribalism rather than to our shared humanity and nature, we regress. Abstractions or ideals transcend materialism, so we see beyond differences to a common and unseen language. Although brutal materialism seems natural, it's not whole. It was actually a spiritually impoverished way to live in most cases, and one we try to avoid when we can. We are safer if and when we can get everyone on board with pretty basic rights and prosperity. Everyone intuitively knows this. That is what makes it a universal, inalienable truth. The goal here isn't to try to make everyone a business owner and destroy life with total competition either. No market has ever existed that way and will never, because we like to collaborate, and markets are inherently social since they must serve needs and wants of others to exist. I think more people need the opportunity to start businesses, because anyone who runs their own business tends to quickly find out quickly it is a ton of responsibility and pretty exhausting. They end up often deciding they would rather give up such a heavy responsibility and happily take a paycut to work for one or another company they really like instead. But going through that experience, or at least learning about it correctly, can often help them have less resentment towards employers, more empathy for the stress that these various forms of leadership have to work under. They then understand why leaders are paid more relative to lower management and employees - although of course not so much that they choke out employees and restrict the consumer-market base. In summary A) Life, B) liberty, and C) the pursuit of happiness means: A) the right to self defense, common defense, and an emphasis on mercy or due process in law B) freedom of choice and expression, as long as it doesn't obstruct the likewise freedoms of others C) the right to generate sustainable wealth for our ourselves, our families, and in our communities we are a part of through work, education, and training Dispersing knowledge of the ancient dangers of mob violence, and how to gently move away from (and longer term avoid) oligarchies or dictatorship, will truly call for reviving the study of western classics for our students. This will help them see through the ploys of would-be dictators, and also help countries and parties genuinely interested in joining the free world learn how to do so effectively and well. Then we can all live together in Kant's Perpetual Peace, as much as possible being flawed creatures in a challenging world. This overall project leads to what everyone desires spiritually and naturally - a long term freedom and stability, with both individual and societal wellness enhanced, far into the future. That is the kind of world we all could enjoy. I think this study speaks for itself. In the free world we are allowed to pursue our own vision of happiness. But what does that mean in practice?
The Pursuit of Happiness Your work's market value is not the same as your intrinsic worth. Self-esteem is based on your level of gentle peace and positivity. They can all affect each other to an extent, for example experiencing hardships may make it more difficult to see our way out and feel hope or happiness. But developing the practical and emotional skills to cope and find hope again sets us up for more opportunities. That will translate both inside and outside of the formal market. This is why it's so important not to let the ups and downs of life, or our perceived successes and failures, affect us too much either way. Because sadly and blessedly, nothing is permanent. We can only seek contentment, and keep working to be at our best, for whatever given set of circumstances we currently find ourselves passing through. As the Indians say, "Namaste" <3 Concerning the metric of price and customer satisfaction, I think Amazon may have missed an opportunity with the failed investment in Amazon Go. The Amazon Go Problem
Madeline Hutton, MAConscious business and classical human development specialist. "No man is free who is not master of himself." Epictetus The temptations of over-indulgence in pleasure and the potential blindness in excess are no strangers to humanity. And technology offers us this exponential dopamine rush daily, at our finger tips. It is the equivalent in reward chemicals to having a giant chocolate cake or even cocaine following us around, depending on our relationship to it and predispositions.
It has often been said, there is nothing new under the sun. And after studying the ancient world, as well as mapping it onto the universalist discoveries of Jungian and Depth Psychology, I have found that adage to be true. Today, in addition to various levels of addiction one can find in relationships with food, persuasions of drugs, and even forms of interpersonal relationships, we now are faced with the behemoth of modern technology's advancement and disruption to our lives. It must be said at the outset that not all disruption is negative. Not all technology use causes malady. Just as having a glass of wine some evenings, or going to the movies occasionally, taking a trip to Las Vegas, or even the rush of new infatuation are each ways in which we harmlessly engage levels of pleasure and approach risk as human beings. We are wired to seek those. Dionysus, the natural-psychological force in this life of pleasure and creative chaos, like all other archetypal forces, exists for a reason - as part of the fabric of human destiny. It is for the purpose of wild, generative new ideas, and of pain relief, that we engage with this force. However, anything can become an idol, a false god that we put above the broader flexibility and nuance that is required to live a full, spiritual life. We cut ourselves off from the Whole, from other forces within it that need our attention. Perhaps a home and hearth of the Hera archetype is neglected, the wildness of Artemis lies bored and listless at the door to the wilderness without venturing out, the merciful law and loving discipline of Apollo becomes slack and degenerate. In Jungian Psychology, we call this imbalance ego-possession, that is - allowing just one aspect of our broader life to overwhelm all others. In knowing Dionysus, we must not use the pain relief to become pathologically uncomfortable with the discomfort, occasional strengthening hardship, and even baseline boredom that is required for us to get necessary work done, or confront unpleasant realities so as to actually address them, or engage in the routines required to simply take proper care of our bodies and responsibilities. In the natural health arts and sciences, for example, it is known that eating and drinking bitter tastes helps with digestion. From a specifically Ayurvedic perspective, only eating pleasure-inducing sweets causes imbalance and ill health. And on a biological level, many of the bitter herbs, spices, and foods provide essential nutrition, while stimulating enzymes that helps us to break down and use all the nutrients from balanced meals. Without bitterness in addition to sweetness, our life is not whole or optimized. This of course does not mean cutting out sweets, but it does mean consciously reflecting on where we get them, and how much we are ingesting in balance with other foods. Similarly, we are called as conscious beings, gifted with the ability to abstract the future using reason and empirical experience, to reflect on how and in which ways we engage with the pleasure and creative risk-taking possibilities of modern technology. Some have pointed primarily to "capital" as the culprit. However, reward is not the only route to coerce behavior. Without capital as a "thank you" for services provided, however that may need to be adjusted, other systems instead simply use fear/violence and falsehoods to incentivize behaviors, including patterns like false promises of utopia, or bludgeoning consent through sweeping and convenient condemnations of arbitrary groups, or causing divisions that make people easier to conquer, etc. So capital and its allocation is not only or even the fundamental issue with use of technology. Capital, or compensation for labor, ended slavery and serfdom for a freedom of association, and we simply use it to express what we each individually value as customers, rewarding skill and good ideas, and in general as a society, when we engage with it well. The fundamental dual issues in technology's ethics are rather in various design choices, as well as the eternal personal responsibility we must each take in our own behaviors - as creators and customers or clients. It feels nice to never be responsible, for the antagonist to always be elsewhere. But in the free world, we freely and voluntarily design how we want to live, based in reality. There is of course always an element of the problem that lies outside of our control, and blessedly, elements that are within our control. Nature itself exists, as does society. We are part of each in a feedback loop. The beauty of our republican democracy and the free, fair trade market is that it is not a dictatorship, you are not forced to engage with products that you don't need to stay alive. We freely design our politics ourselves, and we also freely design the market ourselves. That means if there is a demand for more offline and nature-based activities and services - the market will then create those opportunities. Some are referring to this as the experiences and services based economy, rather than an excessively materialistic one (though we all still use and are creative with materials). We can have meaningful items and not junk, we can buy less & buy better when it comes to things. As both consumers and entrepreneurs, we are in the driver's seat - or rather, at the painter's easel. The foundational discovery of western philosophy is the natural freedom of the individual to choose: our freewill. It is our locus of control. Countless authors have helped us to think about this essential natural right, from Plato to Frankl to Jung and others. It is the power of foresight and reason, which we were created to use as the Rational Animal, applied to how we want to live and be. Together with this unique foresight and experience, we write a story in connection to nature, our family and society, and God. The exercise of choice and reason, well applied, is the sword which we fight the dragon of chaos with - when it threatens to subsume us rather than protect us or provide us with insights. There are two ways to deal with the beast of the unknown, and both may apply in different situations, to different degrees. One is to befriend chaos and share in the treasure and power it can bring. The other is to fight it to get to the treasure or save the soul (the maiden, or Jungian Anima). The manner in which the dragon of chaos and possibility is affecting our life in a given moment informs how we can best respond to it. Do we fight technology in a particular moment or instance, or do we work with it? For example, if you are creating a successful online business for Fair Trade vendors, and you are part of an in person positive community and family, you spend time too in refreshing activities like solitude and in nature, taking care of your health and responsibilities, you are riding the dragon of possibility and experiencing rewards. You have gotten it to befriend you and even help you fly, as you optimize the new creative avenues it presents. However, if you are spending all your time avoiding thinking about your break up, the family you don't call or see, the bills piling up, the cleaning you need to do, etc and zoning out on video games or scrolling, eating junk food and skipping sleep - you are letting that same primordial dragon of chaos and pleasure - risk and treasure - devour you. According to the stoics, you are letting the passions run your life and not using reason to guide them. In terms of these modern challenges, the fact of the matter is: we do not need to walk around with slot machines in our hands or pockets all day. We do not need to be addicted to screens. We can make changes, like turning off notifications, hiding likes, switching to podcasts and music vs flashy videos, or even delete our personal pages, hire someone to run our professional page with set hours on/off the clock, or delete most of all social media, and in general rediscover the joy of setting up a cozy reading area to engage with physical books that excite us, or buy and spin records. We can use also technology in different ways - to find connection with experts who can help us learn about and manage our finances and emotional resources (rather than deplete them). We can create and stick to schedules, set alarms. We could also go a step further, buy "dumb phones" and landlines so we are only online at the computer desk - al a 1990s. We can mail birthday cards and other letters. We can learn to read physical maps and road signs, as activities that create reward chemicals in the brain while we master small new steps - getting those dopamine hits from cultivating small achievements, and not from rampant screen addiction - keeping for example a GPS device as a back up, not the primary tool. We are literally free people and can do whatever we want. We threw off dictatorship for just this purpose, to honor that natural and fundamental freedom of choice, with personal and community responsibility, that dwells in each and every human heart. Giving up any addictions will make us grouchy at first. It's important not only to grow to tolerate discomfort, but also find ways to crowd out what our brain will perceive as loss with new activities that foster neurochemical reward and joy. Think of grudgingly going to the gym, but feeling amazing during and after a sensible workout there. It doesn't have to be scaling Mount Everest to count, in fact, many people have died trying to do that... and the benefits could be considered questionable for most people. You don't need to go live in the woods Thoreau style and drop out from all engagement with the modern world and technology. It doesn't need to be anything extreme. You are free to do that, of course, but you don't have to - and many people would reasonably rather not go so far with it. We can manage technology rather than allow it to manage us, or choose to radically scale back our engagement with it. Similarly with the healthy eating movement, an orthorexic style can do damage, while simply eating real and reasonable, organic and fair trade food - whether that is chocolate cake and wine, or brussels sprouts and salmon, in a reasonable balance is enough. We don't need to just eat grass and rice, or just beef, or try to live off of drinking sunlight with your eyes. Being stoic is not about being ascetic and extreme when you don't need to. It's about being conscious and upholding your values, prioritizing what is right and good. That means having a conscious relationship with technology and how we manage potentially addictive problems, not necessarily going cold turkey. We live in a culture of extremes, with polarized stances and actions. Much of this is fostered by the attention that various political and commercial actors want to invoke from us in our online lives. High emotionality pays in more engagement for them, and they are singularly focused on attaining versions of it from us. They are hunters, they are acting naturally, and in this particular scenario we are the prey animals. But we too can become the catalystic players. We don't have to simply respond and react to their bids, and we certainly don't have to spend all of our time and energy in the realm of those games. Some of the services and politics they offer to us are of interest and value, and many are not. We shape a lot of how those politics and services are created in the free world. It's a feedback system, and the sooner were become aware of our role in that dynamic conversation and play it well, choosing to act in ways that are healthy for ourselves, our families, and society at large, the sooner we go from being mere prey animals to citizens that help shape policy, and informed consumers that help shape the business environment. In order to do this effectively, we will need strong boundaries with our technology. We need to remind ourselves above all that we are also family members, friends, and living creatures who need to enjoy our lives independently of human politics and markets, privately, for much of our waking hours. In pursuit of a full life, frequently we are simply meant to be people doing enjoyable and healthy activities - like making art or music, dancing, making food, having game nights, taking walks in the forest with family and friends, writing in journals, building things for fun, tending to our homes and gardens. This was something unions created called, "leisure time," and it is what leveled and equalized opportunity to advance, grow, learn, or simply relax - in the way that only the aristocrats of old used to be able to. Now, our culture calls on all of us to help society in some ways, and allows us to have private time to ourselves to do and develop as we wish in some ways. One of the worst parts of the imbalanced rise of modern tech and social media is that it has encroached on both our social lives and private lives in ways that can diminish in turn our work - and restrict the scope of our personal space or development, whenever tech is designed and used in addictive and harmful, or destructive ways. We need to remove the guilt for having personal lives in the era of "social capital" that has us constantly plugged into the world - and in the hands of PR professionals, propagandists, the press, mesmerized by world events and products that we don't consider the origins of. A private life is a treasure that we cannot afford to lose. Our private life and personal mind keep us from being swept away in mob moves, grounded in our own agency and choices, our locus of control. Thus, we need to have agency in our work and require self-discipline with good design to both optimize and have boundaries with technology. We can create ethical and sustainable ways to be engaged actors in our civics and markets, without losing ourselves and our inner peace in the process. That locus of control of choice and agency, that freewill, is the essence of good therapy. And it is the essence of stoicism, as well as the free world. Our liberty with responsibility is the foundation of health. |
AuthorMadeline Hutton, MA ArchivesConscious Capitalism, Microcredit, Fair Trade, & Wellness Topics
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