Okay, so we forget about the technology problem and move on to ethics and virtuous values and recognition of the seven cardinal sins, or however you want to call them - they are universally issues for people to deal with, having mostly chimpanzee DNA with only some of us having reached superlative heights of humanistic insight and virtue. The one we are primarily discussing is ENVY, but PRIDE and GLUTTONY are fellow travelers.
My family originated as orphans in the 19th century, with survival an important issue. The cemetery in Peckham is full of Winns who were not the lucky ones. My orphaned grandfather arrived in NZ as a young child, as did his semi-orphaned future wife without much other than hope. Life was tough and stayed that way until decades of work got them out of it and up to shop-keeper level, and then orchard owners.
As a youngster, it was embarrassing to have the oldest car in town, with a father riding a bicycle to work while others swished around in nicer equipment and bought their children new toys, with gears even! But for some strange reason it didn't occur to me that I should rob people or attack them. Once I got some reasoning and a bit of explanation, I realized that was them and we were us, and it didn't matter. What is annoying is favouritism where people in with the politicians and people with favours to dispense have the inside track. So, being a Negro and having doors shut for no reason other than being Negro would be annoying like that. Government is all about favoured cronies, whether it's by licence, permit, or other cronyism.
The seven cardinal sins are for each individual to deal with internally. They can't be fixed by changing the external world and especially not by lowering the external world to the sinner's level.
I have eaten loads of "cake" and have developed quite a taste for it actually. I admire Larry Ellison and his beautiful boat Katana which is a spectacular work of art, which he kindly moored in our local harbour for passersby to enjoy looking at. I don't feel any envy. Same for Dr Irwin Jacobs who has got $billions. I admire him and am deeply appreciative that he took the trouble to create Qualcomm and invent mobile Cyberspace. Envy of him would be a despicable sin. I know I'm inferior to him but that doesn't mean I don't have my place in the world taking out his trash or something. How is relative wealth a problem? I have no trouble working in harmony with said supremely wealthy, or even just passably wealthy people.
As studies now show, happiness is more to do with internal values rather than wealth. My subjective happiness is about where it was when I was 12. I'm vastly better off now and can do vastly different things as a result of my relative wealth, but I don't think I should be envious of me, if my younger and older selves were living contemporaneous lives. I would find my younger self convenient to employ to do jobs around the place to save me the trouble, so that I could have more time to explain more of it to you. What a shame I don't have a mini-me [or younger version]. Or perhaps you are pleased about that.
People should ditch their envy and find the most useful thing to do that they can.
Mqurice |
