The world as we know it has a lot of problems. And many of these problems are caused by us, human beings, the dominant species on the planet. We cause environmental problems, climate change problems, problems related to conflict and war... But this short post is on how I believe there's an even bigger problem, one that may even be at the root of all those other problems.
source: YouTube
That problem is the waste of human potential. I strongly believe that we're all products of the environment we create for ourselves and each other; the balance of nurture and nature tilts heavily to the side of nurture in my mind. I believe that in every individual there's the potential to become the next Einstein or the next Manson. Sure, nature has something to say about this as well, but nobody is born an Einstein or a serial killer. Somewhere along the path of our lives we become who we are. No, not just "somewhere", forget that; we're constantly molded into the person we are at any given moment of our lives. We, humans, are the most flexible creatures on Earth. I often give the example of feral children; if they're raised with wolves, they become wolves, or Mowgli...
But this post isn't about how or by whom we're raised. It's about what we need to reach our full potential, what we need to do with our lives and our time what we truly want and what we're truly good at. To become the best we can be according to our own wants and talents, in the realization that the wants often times overlap with our talents; to become good at something we have to have interest in or love for that "something." And here is, in my opinion, the biggest failing of humanity. We've organized society in a way that only has room for precious few people to reach their full potential. And we know why this is the case. It's because so many people are stuck in the bottom, or the bottom two rungs in Maslow's hierarchy, when self-actualization is at the very top.
It's an affront to what we've collectively achieved throughout the ages, and what we collectively continue to achieve today, with the emphasis on "collectively," that we're still individually bound to a struggle for basic survival. It's only when our basic needs are fulfilled that we can explore what we truly want to achieve in life; if we're not fed and housed, finding food and shelter overshadows all other needs. And that's where most of us are stuck. Capitalism transfers all the wealth we collectively produce into the hands of a very small percentage of the population, and the rest of us work all day every day to produce their wealth and bread on our own tables. If we have a table, that is. And a house.
I'm one of the relatively lucky ones, as are you probably, dear reader; otherwise we probably wouldn't be sitting behind a computer communicating indirectly with each other. I'm lucky enough to have a job that takes only 30 hours per week, and to have a spouse who works the same amount of hours, which earns us enough to pay the mortgage on our house and put food on the table; this leaves me enough time to write a post every day. But there's no extra's; it's been more than ten years since I've had a vacation outside my own house and town. I won't have a pension to speak of, so I dabble in cryptocurrencies to try to make up for that. And also because I truly believe it's the way of the future if we ever want to escape from the strangle-hold fiat money has on us. And while I've managed to achieve a relatively stable life, I'll never reach the top of Maslow's pyramid, and for younger generations I can only see things get worse. And let's not even speak about people from the global south...
Capitalism is, in my opinion, the greatest waste of human potential in the history of mankind. We produce enough food to feed the entire world population twice over, but we've organized our world in a way that leaves millions hungry. That's not something to be proud of. Einstein, Newton, Tesla, they all had something most of us don't have, and that's the time to pursue their passion after their basic needs were met; most of us face a future where all our time's spent on meeting those basic needs. And there's no good reason why that should be the case. None whatsoever. There are reasons aplenty, but none of them good. Just imagine, how much more artists, scientists, inventors, great sportsmen and women there would be if we were not bound by a struggle to meet the basic needs, how much more beautiful and possibly peaceful our world would be...
Understanding Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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