Making It Happen

I feel very anxious right now. Being part of the Los Angeles StartingBloc Institute for Social Innovation (2/16 - 2/20) really amped me up, but I'm having trouble productively channeling that energy. I've had some great Skype chats with StartingBloc Fellows, but can't wait to do something concrete. I've had plenty of ideas for a long time, but have not done much with them.

Partly to blame is my problem choosing an identity. I want to be a serious scholar, but also active making changes in the world. Moreover, there are many types of scholarship I am interested as well as many types of social changes I am interested in. I want to study economics, sociology, psychology, and philosophy of social science. I want to promote deep and critical thinking, educate about the European Enlightenment, promote non-polemical dialogue, promote student-centered education, promote humanistic organizational structures, create a framework to facilitate knowledge gathering about social issues and to help organizations and individuals collaborate on tackling those issues (If you're a talented information designer passionate about positive social change, please come work with me). I need my life to be rich in scholarship, conversation, collaboration, and production. When one of those elements is weak, it hinders the development of the rest. Okay, I have an idea; I'm gonna go try again now!

A Humanistic Social Structure

A successful social structure must be especially sensitive to the issue of status. Humans hate being subordinated to others. They will either strive to escape a position of subordination, repress the fact of subordination, or reluctantly accept a life of suffering if they know of no better realistic alternatives. We must therefore devise a social system that promotes status relations of equality.

However, equal status is only the first prerequisite to the happy society. There must also exist sufficient opportunities for engaging in enjoyable economic activity. A method of producing marketable goods and services through the producers’ pursuit of their passions is necessary. Additionally, this system must also be capable of harmoniously distributing the less enjoyable work.

So let’s say there is a firm that follows these principles. How would the consumer verify this? A sophisticated system of reviews is one option. An “Enlightened Economy Network” might also work, but would necessitate official verification, which adds unnecessary labor-needs, raises prices, and worst of all adds a layer of bureaucracy. Alternatively, workers might simply not want to work at a firm that does not follow these principles. However, there are always those desperate for income who will tolerate poor conditions and not speak out for the fear of losing their source of income. Still, we mustn’t let challenges of this sort get in the way of the creation of a system superior to the current one. The beginning is in the promotion of the new system. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

What is necessary to start a humanistic firm are adequately skilled people and financial capital to purchase what cannot be produced internally (unless those other firms are willing to barter directly or through barter credits). This does not seem like an insurmountable challenge. One must begin by simply advertising the idea for the firm.

(Related Post: "My Economic Utopia")

On Boredom

After complaining about boredom, my friend asked: "In what way could you grow or adapt around the boredom?" At first it seemed like a silly question, but then after thinking about it a bit I figured that I might gain something from blogging about my boredom. You see, I've suffered from boredom for a long time. Reading books and blogs can only entertain me for so long. I would have music too make too, but my music computer broke. Even then, I don't think adding that activity to my repertoire would solve the problem. It would help, but not solve it.

What I've been missing all of these years is a sufficient dose of engaging social interaction. Perhaps if I lived in a house with all of my most engaging friends, I'd be set, but that's unrealistic. And then even if I did figure out how to make that happen, it might still not work. You see, what I seek is deep personal and intellectual conversation. I want conversation that develops the intellectual thought of those involved. I want conversation that opens up the cores of the participants. I want to get to the most basic essence of the other. I want to understand their most basic desires and fears. I want to reach the solidarity that develops when that core is reached--that solidarity based on the realization that deep down inside we are essentially the same.

I wonder if other people seek this level of intimacy. The idea probably freaks out a good number of people. But surely there are some up their that share my desire. I don't know what the roots of it are. Perhaps this desire of mine came into being through my psychological development. I really don't know.

Another thing that engages me is problem solving. I think it would be nice to work on solving important problems with others. I suppose this hits more at the world of work than the world of friendship, but it can exist in both worlds [though if within the world of friendship, the activity itself could still be technically defined as work (in this case we ought to ponder whether it would be a positive development to complete some proportion of economic production through friend-based teams)].

Well I don't know what else there is to say, so I'll end here. Perhaps I'll be back soon.

Enjoying Life

Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" is this blog's theme song. Go ahead and play it.

Two nights ago I had a conversation with a friend about the significance of life. We both recognized the infinite significance of an individual life. We agreed about the importance of people recognizing this so they may have the opportunity to live their limited lives to the fullest. Indeed it would be a tragedy to waste this wondrous opportunity.

However, enjoying life is not a straightforward task. Though my friend found it easy to be awed by our world's many features, my body does not react with nearly the same enthusiasm. Yes, the world is incredibly complex and there are always new things to see and understand, but so what? Moreover, recognizing the finitude of our unique lives could very much lead to fear and existential crisis rather than awe. I've been there, done that. Just look at this blog's opening posts.

Nevertheless, during that conversation I concluded that the point of life is to enjoy, while the ethic is to help others enjoy. I was instantly presented with a grand challenge: enjoying life as best as I can. I thought about how I might do that and made plans to carry out the task the following day. Surely in all of New York City I would find something enjoyable to me.

The next day things didn't quite go as planned. Plans to spend time with a good friend did not work out. Instead of enjoying the wonders of existence, I became frustrated as a result of my plans not working out. I had no good plan B. I ultimately decided to cool down my frustration with a walk through some areas I hadn't yet explored around the border of West Village and Tribeca.

I did my best to be awed by the little things around me. I touched the tree bark, noticed particularities of buildings, and thought about the life-giving air I was breathing in. I felt calm, almost serene . . . but not joyful. I headed toward the Hudson and found a nice spot under a couple of trees with low-lying branches. Once I identified the exact spot I wanted to sit in, I proceed to do so.

I sat there calmly, watching the people walk and run by. I then took the camera out of my backpack and took some pictures as the sun was setting. Again, I felt calm, almost serene . . . but not joyful. I took my cellphone out of my pocket, debated what I should do with it, and decided to send a text to my best friend: "I love you." I sat there awhile longer, got back up, and continued my walk down Hudson River Park.



I discovered all kinds of things during that part of the walk: an indoor sports field, tennis courts, basketball courts, metallic public tables and chairs. I thought to myself "I'm gonna have to come back here." The end of the metallic chairs and tables also marked the end of the park's nice grassy strip. I therefore decided to find the closest subway and head back to Brooklyn. I walked down Laight Street, crossed a pedestrian bridge going over the expressway, and soon after spotted the A-C-E. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Though yesterday's walk was a nice break from my normal routine, I certainly did not enjoy the day to the fullest. I know that I enjoy spending time with good friends, playing games (sports, boardgames, whatever), hiking, roadtripping, singing, producing music, and watching Detroit Lions football games, but there's really not that much else. Well I like doing my lifestyle architecture work, and I would probably enjoy teaching, but besides these and perhaps a few other work-related activities, I can't think of much else I enjoy. Photography can be good at times, as can watching a movie and a few other other activities, but these activities don't bring me the greatest level of enjoyment.

I suppose the answer is to restructure my life so as to do more of the things I really enjoy on a day to day basis. The challenge is that my happiest moments are social moments, so it's not just a matter of restructuring my own life, but also of restructuring the lives of others. And before I even try to begin that process I must find these special persons to restructure my life with. Now that seems daunting. I'm therefore not very hopeful right now. Perhaps I need my own lifestyle architect.

My Economic Utopia

I feel bad contemplating the idea of doing enjoyable work that does not contribute to the basic areas of American consumption: food, water, housing, energy, transportation, healthcare, household appliances, computers, cell phones, stereos, air conditioning, insurance, banking, public parks. Could I possibly work within these fields and be happy? It's nice to contribute to the improvement of products. It would be good to help design more energy efficient and lower-priced goods. But this task of improvement only makes up a small fraction of an enterprise. The bulk of the work is in producing and servicing the current products. But how exciting can it be to build and sell washing machines? Whose first choice would this be? This type of work is essentially a chore. Thus, it seems that all we can do is 1) minimize the amount of time we spend on chore work, and 2) create conditions of chore work that facilitate socialization with co-workers and (in some instances) customers.

If we all do our share of the chore work, that should leave plenty of creative work for us to do. Those with a talent for teaching can teach, engineers can engineer, designers can design, etc. Things aren't looking so bad anymore, right? It gets even better.

Lastly there's the artistic work. This is the type of work that a small percentage of especially talented individuals are able to earn a living on. Whereas the creative work is something almost all people can earn money from, artistic work is more limited. As is presently the case, only a small percentage will be able to earn money from this type of work. However, all will be able to do artistic work in their free time.

I imagine that in this improved society I'm describing, it would be acceptable for the artists (musicians, painters, athletes, etc) to be exempted from the regular shares of chore work and creative work. They would be totally excepted from the creative work and partially excepted from the chore work. Though they wouldn't do their fair share of chore work, they would spend about 10 percent of their work time on those tasks, which I believe is enough to establish solidarity with the rest of society. We all benefit from this organization because we benefit from excellent music, sports, visual art. A world of mediocre art world certainly be a world of a lower quality of life.

So this is the economic utopia I've come up with. I'd be happy to hear any alternatives or amendments.

Modern Life Sucks

I graduated from College a month and a half ago and now need to find a job in order to survive economically. The problem is that when I think of all the roles that are played in our modern economy, the overwhelming majority of them seem quite horrible. Working as a waiter? Cashier? Bank teller? Factory worker? Construction worker? Research assistant? No thanks to all of these. Yes, there are roles to play that seem great. I would love to be a singer, or perhaps an educator, maybe a consultant, definitely a life coach, a therapist, a clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist, perhaps a counselor. But the problem is that even though I could find a role that I enjoy, I'd still be working within a system that necessitates others to spend their working hours doing unpleasant work. My Kantian conscience doesn't do well with this.

I previously thought that a Utopian society is possible if we make all the right changes. However, I'm starting to have second thoughts. Perhaps we can only lessen the unpleasantness of most work roles. Perhaps we can only lessen the depersonalizing and alienating conditions of most private and public hierarchical workplaces. Perhaps I'll have to settle for this limited progress.

Let's say that we all equally slit up the most menial tasks that must get done. This does not mean that the work that is left is spectacular. Professional work is usually quite specialized and operates within bureaucracies. Is being a politician really an engaging job? Doesn't engineering for a company get old after a while? Would I really want to manage mutual funds four of five days a week? I know I certainly would not want to manage an insurance company. That can't be fun. Even being a doctor seems quite tedious to me. I mean, how does that not get old? And think of lawyers; they just argue their clients' cases day in and day out. Imagine doing that for thirty years.

Perhaps I'm being too tough. Perhaps there are people who love doing these professional jobs. Perhaps the people who currently perform these jobs are quite satisfied. Well I certainly don't get this impression from the professionals I come across.

I just want people to enjoy their work. I recognize that task variety is not enough. We need our economy to be based on work that is intrinsically interesting and pleasurable--even after 25 years of doing the work. Is this possible? I'm not sure. All I can do try to make it happen.

However, if I see that pleasurable work has severe limits, there is still one important strategy left to use: the radical minimization of one's consumption. It's really quite simple: the less we spend, the less we have to work. Modern-day labor-saving technology makes the acquisition of food very cheap compared to pre-industrial times. Additionally, we can replace cars and trains with bicycles, which cost much less per month to operate. And there's no need for eating out; nor for paying for entertainment.

So maybe modern life doesn't have to be so bad after all. We shall see . . .

Work and Potential

The thought of working most jobs frightens me. Yes, the obligation of performing monotonous tasks day in and day out is a big reason for this. However, an even greater reason has to do with the opportunity cost of working a job. Even if the job is fun, one still must give up the potential for what could have alternatively been created during that time. If one is seeking only their own pleasure in life, finding a fun job would be ideal. However, I am primarily seeking the maximization of collective happiness. I therefore feel very uncomfortable when I must devote my time to activities that I do not view as the most essential for the achievement of that goal.

Being stuck doing tasks below my greatest utilitarian potential would plague my mind with a feeling of forced immorality. This is precisely what I fear. Hopefully I'll find an economic role that steers me clear of this.