Let Us Stop Striving for Minimums
Let Us Strive Higher
You cannot separate a fish from the ocean. No matter how smart, brave, or tough the fish is, he cannot be healthier than the ocean where he lives. Neither, my friends, can we human beings.
If you look at human civilization in 2019, we still live in a world where the vast majority of people remain in great need of life’s necessities. People walk miles for dirty water to drink or live with little or no power. Even in The United States, the richest nation in the history of the planet, we are still fighting political battles over the basic needs such as healthcare and education for many.
Meanwhile, even the so-called middle class in advanced countries, largely struggles paycheck to paycheck. Sixty percent of Americans cannot afford a $1000 emergency. Maybe they can afford one vacation a year and a few amenities. Half of all Americans die broke.
Why? Why is this still the state of our planet in 2019? Some might point to the greed and corruption of the super wealthy and powerful and that view is not without merit. Others might say the resources of the planet are not divided equitably. They too have an argument.
I’d argue, though, that the number one reason is that we have been sold a bill of goods. We’ve been sold a belief that there is not enough to go around. Resources are scarce. We have been taught to fight like dogs over table scraps.
Generations of this have perpetuated a mindset of abject lack. Whole political and economic movements have grown up around this idea of fighting over scarce resources to the point that we now believe that getting every one up to a “minimum wage” or “basic healthcare” is a stretch goal.
This is utter falsehood sold to win votes and control minds. We live in an abundant world and an even more abundant universe. We have untapped ingenuity and genius that could launch our world and our species into whole new orbits of thought. Why are we aiming for minimums?
It’s a mindset. It’s a destructive mindset. Individually, when you reach for a goal, you’ve been taught to aim higher than your goal so you don’t fall short. To get great, you have to aim for greater.
It’s like the golfer who leaves the tournament-winning putt short. What could be more frustrating than not even getting to the hole and giving yourself a chance?
This is the way we’re thinking in our civilization. It’s the way our leaders and media think. Fundamentally, we believe there’s not enough. “I better get mine before someone else does.”
We live in fear and competition rather than peace and cooperation. We are told these lies and sold these lies over and over again by leaders who either don’t know better or are consciously pushing this narrative forward.
You might tell me, “Ray, my life is good. Yes. I wish things were better, but it doesn’t impact me.” I’d answer you by saying we are like the fish living in that ocean. The world that lives and acts with a mindset of lack and scarcity is an environment that threatens our civilization and its future to the core. It’s especially galling because it’s all so unnecessary.
We have the resources, the technology, and the ideas to make the lives of every human being on this planet better right now…today. That change could shift the lives of most of the 7.5 billion people inhabiting our planet. We can lift the barrios of Manila, the slums of Mumbai, and ghettos of Chicago.
Imagine for a moment the world that is possible when 7.5 billion people all live feeling they have a chance and their basic needs are met. How much wasted talent would we immediately glean to build the next level of our civilization?
Hard to do? Absolutely. There are very powerful forces who have no interest in such a world. Yet, what holds us back is just mindsets and mindsets and can be changed by a whole lotta fish working together for a better ocean.
Let us stop waging a battle for minimums and start creating a world of abundance. After all, it is our ocean.
Ray
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