Humans are one with their environments. What exists is the result of what everyone puts into it. If you want to create a better world, you need to work on it.
“Human Resources” by Ben Taylor55 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Companies are collections of humans who use tools to achieve goals. The specific goals depend on the people involved.
From the perspective of a company with certain tasks it must accomplish, people are an expense. You want to minimize the amount of cost to achieve your goals. This will look different depending on your goal and what steps you take in order to minimize your cost.
Certain goals cannot be achieved, and can consume endless resources. It is always possible to be richer.
For the wise man regards wealth as a slave, the fool as a master. — Seneca the Younger
There is great power in helping others achieve their goals. When the primary motivation is survival, we band into groups of varying types. When survival is not a struggle, we’re able to focus on passions, and often join communities of similar minded individuals.
What exists at the end of the day is the product of the what individuals work towards. The more individuals working on creating a better collective future, the better it will be. The more people planting trees, the more trees there will be. Conversely, the more people working on building wealth for wealthy individuals, the more wealthy individuals there will be, at the expense of what could have been done instead.
Our country has record low unemployment. How much of that labor improves the world, and how much of it for personal enrichment? Often in our society the money is monopolized by those who are efficient at collecting it.
Living costs are often high enough that full time employment or more is required just make ends meet, leaving many individuals forced to take the work that people are willing to pay them for.
From the perspective of a money focused individual this is ideal. Labor costs are low, allowing you to maximize profitability. They will become more prosperous as the world inexplicably deteriorates around them.
If you’re focused on improving the world around you, there is plenty to be done. As you work, you will find ways to get better at it. What you do becomes part of who you are.
You can find like minded individuals who you can share expenses with. Together you can collaborate on ways to generate the funds you need to continue the work. The work itself does not need to generate funding, as long as you have some way to pay your expenses.
For some this could mean that they make enough money from their passions to survive. For others it could mean they do as little unrelated work as possible in order to retain the rest of their time. There will always be work needed in society that people don’t necessarily want to dedicate their life towards.
If successfully implemented on a national scale through individuals choosing to do it, it would look like a nation of individuals living their own perception of their best lives. It would be far harder to live a lavish lifestyle, since that requires people continuing to work for your benefit instead of their own.
From the perspective of society, this could look like a Utopia. Music from those who love music. Food from those who love to cook. Automation from those who want to free our time.
