A Dream Worth Pondering in the Public Square
“How shall we live ethically in an increasingly small planet with fewer resources and increasing disparities?” and “Just what does it mean to be human?”
As I am pondering what it is to flourish in the public square the real question underlying this is “How shall we live together ethically in an increasingly small planet with fewer resources and increasing disparities?” But, to answer that question we must ask, “Just what does it mean to be human?” So let us ponder just who are we as a species and how do we see ourselves in relation to one another? Right now it looks as if more and more of our jobs will be accomplished using AI so that entire careers will be considered old-fashioned, too laboriously slow and will thus be eliminated. That is occurring in the local supermarket as self-service machines are replacing the cashiers instead. The human race is moving into an entirely different way of being human. So if technology is all that is needed to keep the economic system operational and if most jobs will be eliminated, how shall we have room and shelter? What would replace work? To answer that question we must ask what are our values? Lest that strike terror in your heart, let’s dream together of new ways of being a community in these changing times.
Pondering the Questions
Most of us avoid these big questions because we are too busy planning to survive into our old age, or, we are simply following the social script: school, diploma, job, marriage, children, retirement, death. Perhaps if AI frees us from the work treadmill maybe we could think of these bigger questions we tend to avoid and listen instead to our Inner Voices. Will we take the time to consider what our creative interests might be? Or, what hobby would be fun to develop that would push us out of this work script that others expect and the current economic system requires? What really gives our individual lives purpose and meaning if we were to remove work, ( even marriage and family) from the list? How do we want to be remembered on our tombstones? If we didn’t have to work, how would we spend our time and avoid boredom? And, just what in our lives justifies our consumption of food, water, and other resources? Heady questions all about our own life. But there are questions as well about our relationship to one another. What is our connection to one another? Or do we want to be connected? What is it to be human sharing this same time and space and, hopefully, resources together?
A Thought Experiment: How shall we live together?
Perhaps instead of selling our labor to the landlords and kings of the culture to survive with food and shelter, we could establish a different economic system. This might be a society that recognizes, values, and rewards the whole person and not just our labor. Can we dream of a culture where everybody has a minimum income and each is freed to use their time for creativity to invent things or make art that enhances the beauty around us or challenges our thinking? Or ease the inevitable pain and suffering that comes with our mortality? After all AI won’t change the fact that we do not live forever. Or, could we be freed to search for cultural ways to celebrate our global family and freed up to prioritize everyone’s basic body needs? Could we plan community wide or regional wide celebrations of life and its various seasons together? AI might help us figure this out by assembling all the world’s knowledge and organizing it into solutions for a flourishing world. But what kind of world do we want to build if AI gives us more time to consider these questions?
Pleasure creates Peace
This is not too far-fetched for many of the dreamers in our world. And, actually, we don’t have to look to AI to discover that some societies have figured it out better than others. Few people are aware that various cultures prioritize the individual as connected to the community and values the well-being of the good-of-the-whole. Some have live in mutual commonality in gift economies that are held together by the generous practice of gift giving. A few years ago I experienced this several times in my visit to Crete, an island that had a women-run, gift giving society much later than other parts of the world. On two separate occasions while shopping, I was given merchandize by the shopkeepers who then refused my offer to pay. It is amazing that from their long history based on reciprocal gift giving these unexpected acts of kindness are still evident today. This generosity is seared into my Western memory for it is contradictory to be a gift recipient from a capitalistic economic system approach. For us, such generosity would be met with consternation and disapproval and considered to be reckless. Yet, I was profoundly moved by their touching acts of gift giving. I felt seen and honored and would definitely return the favor with gifts of my own the next time. It bound me to them in gratitude and respect. It is apparent that that there are different ways to live together that impact the heart first and foremost. These are flourishing ways.
But what about conflict and wars that are driven by ego and greed? Let us look at a different example of a bonded community found in the animal kingdom: the bonobo monkeys. They have a community bound together that uses the rewards of sexual access and affirmation. They depress violence and minimize conflict by withholding sexual and sensual access. Such a focus on plentiful and easily available sexual pleasure for everyone is certainly a different approach to economic systems and I suspect might bring out the very best in humanity as well! So as we begin to dream about what it is to be human in an AI era we have two examples of communal bonding: One through the pleasure of gift-giving and sharing with all. The other through the pleasure of ready access to sensual and sexual delight for all. The construct of a patriarchal hierarchy would dissolve into generosity and the so-called Incels wouldn’t have chance of survival!
Is It All About Me or Is It About Us?
As we dream together of how we want to live together on this shrinking planet we must consider this: Shall we commit to live with and for each other in peace and good will, OR will we continue to be “each man for himself”? Is it to express love and respect and share with others knowing that the more we sow harmony and solidarity, the more it will be returned to us well into our future, OR will we continue to focus only on the short term of “just mine?” Is it to recognize that we survive best, and perhaps only, when we consider the long term consequences of the good-of-the-whole rather than the short term benefit of the few who use their resources to look only at themselves?
The Naked Values Found in the Federal Budget Proposal
The current Republican budget proposal is a perfect illustration of a short term and myopic plan that screams “To hell with the good-of-the-whole. I’m gonna just get mine!” It is a slash and burn millionaire’s budget that is based on shifting large chunks of the federal budget to the benefit of the wealthy oligarchs even though the long-term analysis is projected to be the increase of national debt, and loss of jobs and recession that will bring starvation, poverty, illness, and death for the masses. It is a return to the terror of the feudal system with its greedy overindulged “lords”- currently called the oligarchy - over the impoverished serfs. Humanity has been there and done that and we know it is a depressing story. Currently there are three quarters of a million US people unhoused in this land of abundance and two thirds of those living in nursing homes who are aged and disabled are relying on the federal funds of Medicaid. Yet the number of unhoused community will only increase as unemployment increases and Medicaid is now on the chopping block. So is the Head Start program and food Stamps (called SNAP) as they also continue slashing the federal workforce and reneging on contracts already made with states and counties for projects for the good-of-the-whole. It is obvious that, for some people, to be human is to consider only themselves, not their neighbor or their community.
But Some Can’t Dream About Us
One elite slashing billionaire leader approved of by the Republican Congress calls the masses the “NPC” - Non Player Characters, those who have little value other than populating the world for the actual (elite) players to use. This is the ultimate self-absorbed, individualistic perspective, “it’s all about me” view that is devoid of a sense of morality. So let’s be clear: Some are so damaged by the myopia of their wealth and privilege that they are not capable of looking beyond their own belly button. Some were damaged by emotional wounding or were exposed to communities with a moral deficit. Some are wounded by the traumas in their lives of dysfunctional family systems or generational memories of abuse or violence, others by accidents or tragedies. Their current narcissism overrides the goodness of their human nature that they too are made in the image of the Divine for the purpose of caring for one another. (Insert the names of the key political players who are pushing this audacious scheme to destroy the social safety net.) Know that whatever created this hole in their souls is regrettable to be sure but no one flourishes when they are in positions of leadership making decisions on the future of the planet. After all, they would rather fly to Mars to escape any responsibility for the good-of-the-whole.
What is it to be human? I wonder. My answer is to understand that we are all connected so that we are all in this together. Let’s dream together of a different way of being the human family, a pleasure-centered way. Personally? I vote for flourishing in the pleasure and intimacy of connection with you, my friend.
.