In defense of empathy

Our present system of governance & resource-allocation is founded on ever increasing growth. Liberal capitalism can not survive if consumption stagnates or falls. You just need to study any of the myriad of recessions/depressions of the modern area to see the truth of this. If our consumption falls, our living standard falls and then government falls. So endless, unsustainable growth is the foundation of our present system. And it is killing us & our planet.

So what to do? How do we get out of this conundrum? We could start by examining what we actually need, versus what we crave. Do we need a huge home, endless vacations & a car in every garage or could we get by and actually be happy with less?

What do we need, in order to lead a satisfying existence? We could start with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. At the bottom we have the physiological needs, things like water, food, shelter etc. The basic stuff that is needed in order for us to be able to exist. If these needs are not fulfilled, we cannot start to care about anything else. If you, or those you care about, are going hungry, no amount of philosophy will compel you care about truth & justice or whatever. The good news is that these needs are easily fulfilled, it is only our present system that stand in the way.

All needs above these, are psychological, metaphysical. Crucially, all these needs cannot be fulfilled by the individual alone. We need other humans in order to be fulfilled. Which is why sociopaths are so empty. Because they cannot connect with other humans, they try to fill that emptiness with an endless pursuit of power, money and base desires, only to find that it is not doing the trick. Also, while it could be possible for an individual to acquire what is need for their basic needs, prepper-style, it is not possible for the rest. People need people (we also get through disaster so much easier as a community).

In contrast to needs, we have wants. I contend that the reason these wants are so pursued in modern times, is that our needs are not met. If we all could have our fill of love, sex & community, we would not need to fill our lives with SUV’s & big screen TV’s. They would be nice to haves, not something to be acquired at all cost. Consumer culture thrives, when people are unfulfilled.

Of course, to be a modern human being, it is not enough just to have a simple hut with ample food & a giving community. We need computers of some kind, for communication, education & fun. We need to be able to travel, to not be contained in a restraining society. We need advanced healthcare & education and so forth. What I like to call: Modern needs & nice-to-haves.

However, if we planned & organized society a lot more rationally, we could get by with a lot less stuff. Also, by working communally, we could have access to a lot more resources than if we insist on doing everything on an individual level.

I find it useful to try and quantify this. What do you need, what would be nice to have and what is superfluous. On an individual level it can guide us to what kind of life we want to lead. On a community level, it can serve as a way to allocate & prioritize resources. Doing this, repeatedly, I have come to the realization that I do not really need that much and if I lived in a society that thought the same way, I would not need to work so much. Later on I will try to explain this, using an idealized community. This is a useful way to game out ideas, as long as you keep in mind that it is just a thought-experiment.