Money, Insects, & the Renaissance Life
A quick lesson from micro economics 101: If I’m really good at harvesting coconuts and you’re really good at picking berries, we should focus on our respective areas of expertise. Instead of me wasting my time trying to track down berries, or you flailing about climbing palm trees, we can both do what we’re good at and then trade with each other. We both end up with more coconuts and berries than we would have had if we tried to do it ourselves.
Sounds pretty good.
But as this trade system evolves it naturally becomes an even more efficient one: the money system. Let’s each trade what we’re good at for this imaginary commodity (we’ll call it a “currency”). Because it’s imaginary it’s incredibly fungible and convenient. We’ll all have more wealth, and we’ll be able to use this ephemeral money stuff to easily get whatever we need.
And this works too, works damn well. Division of labor is great for the economy. But because it’s efficient it has become the norm. People believe it makes sense to build their entire lives around maximizing revenue. The logic is that “productive time” is best spent cranking the single widget that produces the most money.
This is a trap!
You were born to taste the rain, to play in the sea, to help your friends, and to keep learning always. But if all you do is crank that one widget that earns you the most money, all of that fades into the background. It’s a dehumanizing lifestyle that prevents you from spending time building your life and improving your character.
Deep down we all know this. We see the satisfaction of people who build their own decks and grow their own food. It’s why we expect parents to raise their own children rather than outsource the job so they can squeeze a few more hours in at the office.
Money was never the goal— not past a certain point. Coconuts and berries weren’t even the goal. The goal was, and is, to live deeply and to help others do the same.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
You are more than a widget maker. You are more than a knowledge worker. You are a human being blossoming right now. So sacrifice a few coconuts and a few berries and maximize your humanity instead.
You can find Jordan on Twitter & Facebook.
This was originally posted at wanderplay.net
