A friend asked, “A small group of people, mostly men, make decisions big and
small that shape the world we live in. These decisions lock us into systems
governed by greed and power. We have our voices, our minds, the ability to
resist, and each other. How can we best use these to remain as free as we can?”
Below are some of Matt's thoughts,
based on his readings, observations, experiences and just thinking about
things..
The words below assume you already
agree with the question in quotes above. If you do not agree with the question,
you may find some of these words offensive or they won't make sense to you, or
they'll make you mad because they will challenge what you currently think about
the world or yourself, and that's good. It's a good thing to read about or
experience different viewpoints of life..
I guess the one thing to think about
is: be aware. Be aware of what is happening around you. Seek out good,
reliable, verifiable information. You might also want to consider spending less
time on social media, and more time reading educational things to learn more
about this world in which you live.
https://hbl.gcc.libguides.com/research/credible
Our current dominant economic system
is capitalism. Marketing, advertising and salespeople have an array of sneaky
and not so sneaky ways to get people to buy things. Here are a few things to consider.
bmediagroup.com/news/subconscious-advertising
https://www.businessinsider.com/9-sneaky-psychology-tricks-companies-use-to-get-you-to-buy-stuff-2016-2
Who benefits from capitalism? I
would say, from my experience, the people that have the most money benefit the
most from the capitalist system. My suggestion would be to find ways to disrupt
or stop the flow of money, even if it is only your flow of money being stopped.
(on a bigger scale, large groups of people change their buying habits and
companies may or may not take notice). A fair bit in these articles talk about
DIY…do it yourself. Don’t go out and buy something, when the something can be
made, designed, cooked, or created using your personal creativity, skills, and
persevernce.
Fighting, or at least living
decently with capitalism:
dns-tvind.dk/fightingcapitalism
treehugger.com/ways-reject-capitalism-your-personal-life-4858387
Education.. started as a way to
educate people for the factories. Not much self-thinking or critical thinking..
not a lot of progress since then, although a lot of fancy words..
Book to consider: The Book of
Learning and Forgetting, Frank Smith
Greed.. COVID..but prices just go up
up up.. who benefits the most? Well..
brookings.edu/articles/profits-and-the-pandemic-as-shareholder-wealth-soared-workers-were-left-behind
theglobalist.com/covid-greed-pandemic-rich-corruption-banks
Divisiveness and polarization..
especially more now with computer algorithms controlling social media feeds.
What to do? Short version: turn off, uninstall, delete all your social media.
If that’s not possible..consider:
socialmediatoday.com/news/social-media-fuels-division-and-angst-but-solving-the-underlying-issues-a/616881
bushcenter.org/catalyst/creating-more-perfect-union/webb-social-media-key-in-fighting-polarization
I think the divisiveness is meant to
dehumanize humans. Re-humanizing, at least to me, means (re) connecting with
people you may or may not know.. maybe you're close your relatives, maybe with
friends, maybe with acquaintances, maybe with complete strangers.. look them in
the eye if you're able. Shake their hand, fist bump, high five, give them a
hug, talk..connect..ideally in person, not on social media.
Whatever antonym of divisiveness you
want to use, use it in big and small ways, public and private..
Magazine that helps Matt remember
the humanity of things: The Sun Magazine.
Specific article: thesunmagazine.org/issues/110/connection
And when you are outraged about
things happening in life..
cambridge.org/core/search?q=growing+outrage (should be an article called “Growing
Outrage”)
If you’ve read this far, thank you.
Hopefully you have some ideas about how to better exist in our current system
of things. I didn’t hyperlink the web site links I included…I ran out of
time..maybe linked in the future? All links working as of 8/17/23.
Peace..
Matt
