written 28 May 2023
published 4 June 2023
Life is a dynamic balance between apparently opposing elements. Some examples are: being/doing, self/society, or yin/yang. These are relative aspects of an inclusive unity, not is conflict at all. This unity is acknowledged within the yin/yang symbol as a small expression of each part within the major expression of the other part. While eastern religions tend to be more tolerant of these relative dualities, western religious doctrines can degenerate into extremist self-righteous dogma that exalts one part and demonizes the other. This attitude has prevailed for centuries, building a core imbalance into everything.
We see this expressed in US society today. America is a land of individualists, structured by the "Protestant" work ethic, dominated by corporate consumer capitalism. We are the richest country on the planet, with 4 percent of the global population taking 24 percent of the world's energy and resources, a ratio preserved by our military spending more than the next 10 countries combined.
Our culture praises the self-sufficient individual, and the business class denigrates welfare as a "moral hazard", yet rushes to get bailed out by the government whenever their economic model fails. The recent bank collapses cost the government, with no economic consequences for the bankers who crashed their banks using poor judgement.
The work ethic prioritizes "doing" and devalues "being". Consequently, we are so busy making things happen that we have little time to consider what is worth making in the first place. The rise of disruptive artificial intelligence, and driverless cars may make big bucks for a few investors, but risk massive unemployment. Even the designers of AI admit they have no idea if their product could decide to destroy humans as a cost/benefit solution.
Corporate capitalism used to consider the needs of customers, workers, suppliers, and the public good, but has now devolved down to only maximizing short-term profit for the shareholders. As a result, income in the "richest" country is so skewed that 3 men own as much as the poorest 170,000,000 Americans, and 2/3 of which are one paycheck away from bankruptcy, living a precarious social reality.
Focus on narrow short-term return makes it seem profitable to kill people and the planet. The tobacco industry funded disinformation about the health hazards of their lucrative, addictive product, long after proof of the toxic legacy was validated. Exxon-Mobile researchers knew 50 years ago their product could kill the economy, but the company chose denial, fired the researchers, and hired the same PR companies used by the tobacco industry to spread disinformation. Modest efforts to limit social damage caused by economic short-term thinking have led to regulations, which corporations loudly described as "job killers" because they cut into profits.
This economic model of exclusive gain makes the biggest bucks on essential needs. For those who can afford it, American health care costs twice the average for developed countries, while leaving over 40 percent with inadequate access. The US pays 2.5 times more than other nations for prescription drugs. Most of the developed world has universal health coverage, but the US health care corporations demonize the idea as "socialist".
But thinking about the good of society is necessary to balance the relationship between self and society. It is obvious to most people that a healthy environment and society are necessary to be a healthy individual, in the same way, it is necessary to have a healthy body for a quality life. The self needn't war with society, any more than "I" benefit being at war with "my" body. We all live is a collective reality, which must be in harmony for any part to be at peace or healthy. Unfortunately, we are not in harmony, and some of these disruptive patterns go back thousands of years. Consider how deeply misogyny is ingrained in our culture.
The Republican party, traditionally dominated by short term business interests, has now cultivated narrow minded "Christian" nationalists, becoming even more unbalanced. Their war on women, public health, and the climate all stem from exclusive gain economics combined with religious intolerance. These raw power policies have no real social consideration.
But the collective reality cannot be ignored forever. It has taken hundreds of years for the climate crisis to get to the point where civilization on the entire planet is now being threatened. We can restore harmony, but everything must be re-examined, and our time for action is shrinking rapidly.
