Motive for gain

June 25th, 2023

Only children, idiots, naive and simplistic idealists don’t have it. And I must be one of those people since this concept is foreign to me. This is strange since it is likely the most common illness gripping humankind. Not all the time though. Archaic economies were not driven by the psychology of calculation of maximization of economic gain. There was an absence of labor for remuneration, but there was only the principle of the least effort.

I do not call for a return to the original state of humankind, if for no other reason than my belief that it is not possible and all we can do is only to take in some good points from those before us. I myself benefit from constant innovations and general advancement and am aware of the effort it requires. I am lazy and like comfort and gadgets. And that’s it. I am comfortable and don’t see a need, nor do I want to gain any more things than I have and that already provides me with a perfectly good life.

Something happened with the advent of settled life. Gaining and hoarding things that cannot be of personal use led to the creation of institutions of power and forced compliance. There was a fundamental mistake made when the value was assigned to shiny things or pieces of paper. And that brings the modern conundrum of the constant need for more, more, more — beyond what is truly needed. Even the value of each human is judged mainly by what that person has gained already and what his/ her potential gain for the future.

And it’s very hard, almost beyond human strength, to consciously refuse to participate in this orgy of gaining more and more and being happy with the lot already in hand.