I figured out what's wrong with our society

I was going to make a rant about how much I hate the way our society is set up but in doing so I think I figured out a key element of what's wrong with it.

I didn't know where to put this so plz move if it's in the wrong place.

The problem is specialization. As soon as we're in kindergarten we're asked what we want to be when we grow up. We are conditioned to think that we have to be something when we grow up. As if your career defines you as a person. This is where the importance is stressed. To be something when you grow up. Why? Because it benefits the system. Your teachers are in the system, they need you to be a mailman, or office clerk, or real estate agent.

Yes, when a community specializes it benefits the community as a whole. And everyone who is participating will be more productive in terms of GDP and work. But the problem is that the community becomes so dependent on each other that if one branch of the community fails for whatever reason (natural disaster etc) then the whole thing falls apart.

Think about this, when you go to get your groceries you are depending on the store to buy the goods, the employees who stock the shelves, the managers who hire everyone, the CEO's who hire the managers, the truck drivers who bring the food, the managers of the truck company, the gas stations who fill those trucks with gas....the list goes on, and I didn't even mention the FARMER who actually MAKES the food.

If one thing goes wrong the whole system fails! For example, take my little food scenario here, if the price of oil goes up too much the truck companies can't afford to ship as much food, the grocery store go out of business, and you don't get your food. Only one part of the system has to fail for everyone to be affected. This is NOT how it should be. I shouldn't have to rely on some guy in California to ship my food to me.

So sure specialization helps productivity.... but is being productive really whats important in life? Does productivity= happiness? i.e. materialistic items? For me, no. Independence and self reliance= happiness. Would I give up my car, computer, cell phone, and such for a chance to be self reliant? Yes.

Back in kindergarten, when I was asked the question of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I had no idea. And my teachers made me feel bad about this because in their minds I was not participating in the system. I thought there was something wrong with me because all the other kids knew what they wanted to be. But now I realize the problem is not with me, the problem is with the system.

I went to college still not knowing what I wanted be. But they told me 'id figure it out eventually and to get a degree in IT because I liked computers. Well now I'm grown up, and still don't know 'what I want to be'. And now I have a ton of college debt to pay off too which is basically like a ball and chain. I wasn't aware that signing my name on a loan as a way to educate myself would end up handcuffing me to the system. And lo and behold I still don't know what I want to be, but I do know that I don't want to spend 8 hours a day 5 days a week working on computers, or as a cashier. 'Rather be fishing?

Here's an idea, instead of asking children what they want to be when they grow up maybe we should ask them where they want to be when they grow up?

I could have answered that question in kindergarten. I'd say, 'Not in school," I'd say. "Not answering these pointless questions."

Or maybe we should ask WHO do you want to be when you grow up. A good person? A father? Mother?

Anyways, I'm sure many of you have had similar revelations about our society... But since I left college my eyes have been open for the first time, and I need to tell someone about the mess I see. The line from the Matrix comes to mind, "Wake up Neo, you've been living in a dream world."

BTW I'm not proposing we go back to a primitive hunter/gatherer culture...even though I personally would like that. (Lately I've been learning about primitive hunting weapons, snares, traps, fishing, skinning & gutting)

I know there has to be a better system than this.

Morpheus: The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.

As I'm typing this message I'm eating KFC french fries. I did not grow the potatoes, I did not make the plastic container they come in. I did not ship them to KFC. I did however rely on about 100 other people to get these french fries. Mmmm they are good though....

reply to post by freedish


no offense intended or anything...
but this fact is finally dawning on you?

we've been living in an inter-dependent world for a very long time.
if you had to boil what's wrong with our society down to a singular point..
this wouldn't be it.

I'll say it again... Self- Sufficiency

in a world where everyone took care of themselves

aaaaammmmaaaazzzziiiinnnnggggg

reply to post by slowisfast


I've always been aware of it, but never so much so till now. I see how the disaster in Japan has affected millions of people. One natural disaster and the country is in ruins. We don't even have to rely on nuclear power-but it makes the community more efficient, so to them it's worth the risk.

reply to post by freedish


I have given this matter much thought and I have a couple of points to share.

I see the human race as an organism. I came to this conclusion while looking through history and seeing the advances or similar new ideas that pop up around the world in roughly the same periods, like pyramids, and perspective drawing. This is based IMHO on simple effency, and the lack of or difficulty of producing things we needed on a daily basis. It took lots of energy, so dividing up the tasks to those inept at said task, worked for the survival of the organism. This will be the key to survival though. Even at a basic state, it will continue even after catastrophe. The problem is different value on different skill. We need to recognize the equal worth of all involved, not judging worth by what you do, but how much is contributed to the whole.

Secondly, when you look at a product like say...cell phone. The face that anyone can buy a cell phone for about 200.00 off the shelf, is amazing. When you begin factoring in every tiny aspect of the phone, it is really mind blowing. Someone mined, grew, gathered the natural resources, another group makes this into compounds such as plastic, glass,wire etc... Then form these into components to manufacture the phone. Seems like it could be literally thousands and thousands of people involved, and I haven't even mentioned the packaging, shipping, or sales person at the kiosk at the mall. And we get this for 200.00 I can't even imagine how, even with cheap Chinese labor.

Unfortunatly society is based around money...

We are ruled by the rich, and money makes the world turn

Specialization is the ONLY way modern society functions. Without it, you'd spend from sunup to sundown trying to provide for your daily needs. It's so ingrained in us now, you don't even see EVERY place it takes place.

Look at your household for example.

Does one person cook, another clean, one take out the garbage, another does dishes, etc., etc.

Specialization isn't what's WRONG...it's the only thing that allows our society to work.

What IS wrong with it though, is that BOTH parents must work to earn a decent living, resulting in a bunch of incompetents, who are usually making minimum wage, to raise our children in daycare by sitting them in front of a TV while mindless pitches for character products are pitched at them.

So, with the absence of parental figures for discipline, the kids grow up thinking they can do what they want. (and do, because the state gives them the power to lie about their parents and get them scarred for life, etc. with an agency that has unchecked power). If a parent doesn't cater to the child's wishes, the kid can call a number, be removed from the home, then put in a group home where they can pretty much do what they want, all while the parent may or may not ever get visitation, even if no crime is ever charged).

In addition, we've gone from stable jobs, where our fathers would work for the same company for years, for a pension, to changing jobs every few years due to either layoffs, or just better opportunities, resulting in more and more people, who are newer and newer to what they do, so eliminating the idea of "old pros"....

That, is what is wrong with our society.

reply to post by freedish


Dude couldn't agree more! I spent my whole education not having a clue what I wanted to be and ended up getting a degree that has nothing to do with what I want to do now and actually doesn't seem to get me anywhere job-wise as I'm 'overqualified'

I think the education system (at least in the UK) needs to put less pressure on people becoming something and focus more on good morals and freedom of choice which are way more valuable IMO

reply to post by Wetpaint72


I understand that specialization is a key part of our survival as a species. But I beg the question, HOW specialized should we be? And can over specialization be a bad thing? Are we happier with cell phones and cars and microwaves? Or were we as a species happier living off the land? For me, the happiest I've ever been was my week long hiking trip to the Appalachian trail.

Maybe if you look at survival as the most important thing then specialization is good. But if you look at happiness as the most important thing then it's not.

I understand there will always be specialization, but should it be to the point where my survival depends on someone else doing their job? I think not.

If our economy hit the fan tomorrow there would be millions of people starving because they are so reliant on the system.

Originally posted by Fazza!
reply to post by freedish

 

Dude couldn't agree more! I spent my whole education not having a clue what I wanted to be and ended up getting a degree that has nothing to do with what I want to do now and actually doesn't seem to get me anywhere job-wise as I'm 'overqualified'

I think the education system (at least in the UK) needs to put less pressure on people becoming something and focus more on good morals and freedom of choice which are way more valuable IMO

edit on 17/3/2011 by Fazza! because: (no reason given)

you can't expect the educational system(government) to teach morality.
merely to teach critical thinking skills, social skills, and prepare folks for working within our society(they do a poor job of this)

i'm not downplaying your point, i'm in the same boat. formally educated in a field that i'm no longer in and with a degree i'm no longer using. but that's no one's fault but my own. i didn't know who i was or what i truly wanted from my life(while i was actually in school). lesson learned.

in the end though...the pressure my school put on me to 'be something' pales in comparison to the pressure i've put on myself in my life to figure out who i am and what i actually want.

school could never answer those questions for me.