And vice-versa. Have you ever noticed some of the many beautiful and ugly congruences in our shared universe? Take for example the beautiful example of rare metals: they are not only rare here on Earth, but rare in the entire universe!
source: Wikimedia Commons
What's true on a small earthly scale is also true on the infinite scale of the universe, because heavier atoms were forged in stars of a later generation than the lighter atoms, and the universe began with only the very lightest of atoms, helium and hydrogen, which consequently are the most common elements, not only on Earth but in the universe as a whole...
These large versus small parallels can be found in the human universe as well, they're just not that obvious or beautiful. Take the phenomenon of American exceptionalism; how often have you heard Americans claim that they have the best country in the world? The best, the mightiest, the wealthiest and the most free country country on earth is also the one with the greatest urge to extend their sphere of influence. There's a straight line from "manifest destiny", the widely held cultural belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America, to modern American expansionism hunting for oil in the middle east and lithium in South America, as well as to the many wars against the red scare before and during the Cold War. This "red scare" as well as the war against terrorism are merely excuses to cover up said expansionist urges.
What else do we know of that has a built-in urge to forever keep expanding? You've guessed it: it's capitalism with its dependence on eternal growth to keep it from collapsing. Is it a surprise then to observe that America is the most advanced capitalist country? Of course not, and American style capitalism has successfully been exported all over the world with a MacDonald's in every major city and second hand Nike sneakers on the feet of even the poorest inhabitants of the poorest countries and cities. And if we go one step smaller, and reduce humanity to its smallest scale, the individual, it's the individual capitalists who exhibit the greatest urge to forever expand their wealth, their power and influence. Capitalism is based on the idea that every individual tries to maximize their own wealth after all.
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So now we have the world's most advanced (I hesitate to say "successful") capitalist country in which the most effective capitalists prey on the American people, exploiting their labor and making them pay dearly for health care. And internationally poor countries have a similar relationship with America and other rich western nations; poor countries are exploited for their labor and resources. We have a socioeconomic arrangement, capitalism, that cultivates relationships, starting with the individual capitalist exploiting individual workers, and ending with a planet in which capitalist rich countries exploit poor countries for their labor and their resources, to feed the insatiable hunger of the individual capitalists in the owner class, and and to satisfy capitalism's need for eternal growth. Everything else, like a clean environment or a just society, is sacrificed on the altars of greed and growth.
This system is unsustainable and will collapse eventually. Question is when, and will it be too late? I don't know. What I do know is that capitalism teaches us to think small, in terms of individual wealth, individual success, individual responsibility and individual failings alone, and that this mindset has big, planet wide consequences. Why don't we try the opposite for a change? Let's start by thinking big and do what's right for the planet and all its inhabitants. Let's admit that there's a difference between personal property and private property; stuff that's needed and used by an individual is personal property and can justly be owned by an individual. Private property is something else, it's the stuff that's needed by everyone, like the factories, the land, the water and the air, and that can't justly be owned by an individual.
It's just a thought. If you watch the linked videos, keep the above in mind. Also, this is the second day that I link videos by YouTuber YUGOPNIK; I've watched all his videos last night and I can recommend them all, especially if you still believe capitalism is the best we can do.
Capitalism makes sh!t products | Planned obsolescence and the inadequacy of market incentives.
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