Day 45: Homo Economicus & The Invisible Hand - Part 3

Also read Creation's Journey to Life, Day 93: Unconditional Love Explained for additional insight into the point of how we've accepted and allowed ourselves to define ourselves as humans from the starting point of Self-Interest and where we've taken our nature as Self-Interest for granted from the perspective that this nature must be Perfect by 'default' -- and where we've accepted 'Unconditional Love' to mean that we will accept another's self-interest and not stand in their way -- instead of living and breathing true Unconditional Love where we will stand in the way of those who value their own Self-Interest over the well-being of others and establish a world where ALL are supported to Live a Life worth living

I commit myself to the redefinition of the human being as a rational being whereby this time ‘rationality’ will be in accordance with common sense – whereby the human takes in a position of responsibility towards self and others as self and acts and behaves in a way which is Best for All

I commit myself to expose that the current way ‘rationality’ is being presented is not ‘rational’ in fact, as it is based within self-interest as fear – and is thus irrational, as there is no directive principle but an impulse/incentive driven human who can only consider himself

I commit myself to expose that the human condition is not perfect by default -- but is in fact flawed, which becomes apparent when we look at history and the current state of the world where there is no perfection visible but the perfect mess we've created of this world and ourselves

I commit myself to expose that self-interest has in fact no real value, as self-interest is really only fear -- fear of death -- where we've accepted and allowed ourselves to believe that there is not enough for everyone, and so we will lie, cheat and deceive to make sure that we are not the ones ending up with nothing -- and in the process, cause others to end up with nothing -- while this is completely unnecessary as there is enough for everyone if only we were to value Life over Wants and Desires

I commit myself to the establishment of a new Value System, as the Equal Money System, where we value Life over wants and desires and self-interest -- and thus create a world of co-operation where all work together towards One interest as What's Best for All Life, where all can in fact have enough and where no-one has to suffer because some decided they want more than what they need just because "they can"

I commit myself to expose that we are not special and that we as humans are not worth more than any other Life form -- as we are the only ones who will use and abuse other Life forms for our own entertainment which actually makes us less than the Life forms as animals and plants we abuse -- and within that I commit myself to the end of all abuse for the sake of a deluded species as the human race and establish a world system which respects Life in all its forms where humans take in their role as custodians / stewards towards the environment, the animals and planet Earth

I commit myself to show that we do not need to be self-interested beings and that human beings can in fact change -- which can be seen by reading and viewing the progress of those who've walked and are still walking the Desteni process, where within the realization that if we can create a perfect fuck up, we can also create a perfect paradise on Earth -- and with this we start within ourselves as our human nature and extend this change into and as the Economic System where we change the Economic System of Perfect Inequality to an Economic System of Perfect Equality and support ourselves and other Life forms as ourselves within the understanding that we are in fact One within the physical reality we share

I commit myself to expose the illusion of Free Choice as it currently exists within the world -- which is used to keep us contained and complacent and keep us from realising that we are not living up to our best potential and thus I commit myself to the end of the current world Economic System which uses the illusion of 'Free Choice' to keep people entertained and have them believe that they're getting "the best deal" and that following one's self-interest will always  result in receiving a reward

I commit myself to wake up humans and get us all back down to Earth so we can realise what really matters, which is the physical dimension of our existence which is currently in need of urgent attention as half the population in the world is being physically deprived of basic goods and services to live a life of sustenance, while there is plenty to go around -- and so I commit myself to the restructuring of our economic system so we may distribute our goods and services in a way where it reaches all Life and not just those with money

I commit myself to expose that we make up the rules and that all the systems within the World where the system of Economics is just one of them, is a system/rule made up through agreement, through us humans -- and so we can alter and change this agreement and re-align our rules to support what's Best for All where the Equal Money System is the practical implementation of such Life Support for All

Day 44: Homo Economicus & The Invisible Hand - Part 2

 See Day 43: Homo Economicus & The Invisible Hand for Context

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have defined 'rationality' as the ability of only behaving and acting within a way which maximizes personal utility within self-interest

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to ever question the definition of 'rationality' within the context of the human and the role of the human within the economic system -- as I have never accepted and allowed myself to question my own self-interest and whether serving and pursuing this self-interest is in fact of any value and worthwhile pursuing within the context of what is Best for All

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to define and characterize the human as being a 'rational' being -- where I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that this 'rationality' gives the human as a being a higher status than for instance animals -- and within that I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that everything is in reverse -- where the animal is in fact superior to the human for being able to consider others besides oneself, but where we've accepted and allowed ourselves to see 'caring about others' as weak and standing in the way of survival -- so we rather put up a tough front and present ourselves all 'rational' as if this rationality has any value, while it doesn't -- as this type of rationality as self-centered behaviour only accentuates how limited we've accepted and allowed ourselves to be and become, where we've become these 'one-track-minded' beings who only care about their own self-interest and do not care about the consequences which result from pursuing one's self interest -- and believe that there is no way that we can all work together

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that the human is special in comparison to other Life Forms on Earth such as animals and plants -- and since I believe myself as a human to be special, our self-centered, egotistical, selfish behaviour must be special -- and thus this self-interested tendency ought to be cherished and used as a guideline for how things are done in this world, since I have accepted and allowed  myself to believe that I am a human and the Universe revolves around me, and everything which exists is here for me to use as I please within my Pursuit of Happiness -- and thus I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to stand still for a moment and look/investigate how my actions within pursuing my goal as satisfying my self interest is harming/affecting others, as I have accepted and allowed myself to have been blinded by the light of my own perceived specialness

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that us humans are perfect just the way we are -- God created us this way, so we must be perfect, so we must act upon our nature -- and within that I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to take human nature for granted -- where I have never ever accepted and allowed myself to really look at what it is we as humans exist as and how our nature affects the Entire Earth -- as otherwise I would have seen that this nature is in fact nasty, as it only cares about itself and nothing and no-one else

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to look beyond my preconceived ideas about what it is 'to be human' where I took our very nature as self-interested beings completely for granted, and used it without questioning as the measuring stick for everything and everyone in this world -- where everything has been assigned value according to our wants, needs and desires within self-interest within the belief that we are the center of the Universe and that we are perfect by default

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the world and the state it currently exists within and as, would not have been brought about by 'perfect' beings -- and so, it must be that we are imperfect beings -- who require to correct and change themselves to a form of perfection as Responsibility towards all Life -- so we can sort out the mess we've created in our Delusion of self Grandeur

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed the definition/characterization of the human as inherently self-interested

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that we as humans do not have to live by this characterization -- but that we can change our nature to whatever it is we want it to be, and thus it would make the most sense to change our nature to What is Best for All -- as this would be starting point/principle which will bring about the best possible version of this reality, where no-one has to suffer and where all are taken care of equally!

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not question the nature of the human, and instead use this nature as the starting point for our economic system -- where all systems and structures are built around this one point: people will do what will serve them and only them best -- and where incentives as manipulation are put into place to direct the activity of humans towards what the Leaders within this world think is best -- but now, these Leaders are also just self-interested selfish beings, so obviously they are going to put structures and incentives in place which will serve them best! And so the illusion of choice is created where apparently the ordinary man on the street has a 'choice' in what he/she can do -- and where he/she will always opt for what suits him/herself best -- without seeing and realising that this is not real Free Choice as the options which had been made available, were carefully selected by the Leaders and presented in such a way that you will do what you think is best for you, but only within that limited window of choice which had been demarcated for you, so it is not really what is best or what you want , but only that which was best within that moment within the options available, the options which were made available to you -- and is thus in fact very limited, and where these choices will always end up serving the interest of the leaders while giving you the illusion that you are also serving your own self-interest, and can have the experience of being a 'winner'-- without seeing or realising what actually goes on in terms of the bigger picture/game at play -- but we won't care and so we won't see because we believed we got ourselves 'the best deal'

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise, that the current economic system clearly confirms that the human is but an organic robot -- and if you push the right buttons / provide the right input / incentives -- they will do exactly that which you want them to do

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the Invisible Hand theory is flawed, as one's self-interest can only bring about a world that's Best for All if everyone has the same point of self-interest and where we all agree on this One point as what matters is that which is Best for All -- but we don't agree on this and only care about our own self-interest and what we think is RIGHT, and everyone else is WRONG and I'm not going to cooperate with anyone who has a different view on things than me, because I am right and I am better, they are wrong, they are less -- why should I care about them and their wellbeing?!

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the Invisible Hand theory can only work if everyone gets the fuck out of their egos and agrees on what really matters as the physical dimension of this reality which we all share and are bound by -- within the realisation that we only have this one Home as Earth which we all share, and if we share Earth unequally everyone is going to be affected in a way that's not Best for All -- so we should share the Earth in a responsible way where none are left out and all are taken care of because we want to be taken care of and so we shouldn't create a world where others are in positions which we would not want to be in -- where there are currently MORE positions within the world that we DON'T want to live than there are positions that we DO want to live -- which clearly indicates that we have a lot of work ahead of us to sort out this Mess we've created so we can all live a Life which everyone can enjoy

Day 43: Homo Economicus & The Invisible Hand

It is strongly suggested to view the Documentary "The Trap" by Ian Curtis as complementary material to this blog.

Next we will be looking at the 'role' which has been assigned to the human within the economic system.
This is because all models within economics are based upon certain assumptions about human beings and how they operate -- and thus how humans will react to particular situations, based upon this assumption. It is thus important to understand this point as this is one of the re-occurring patterns within economics on which all graphs and models are based on in terms of the various interactions and dynamics at play within the field of economics.
This will become clearer within the blogs to follow.

Within current economics, the Human is viewed from the starting point of being a rational being. This rationality is defined in terms of survival and self-interest -- where it is deemed 'rational' for a human being to act and behave in a way which will always be directed towards achieving maximum benefit for self, within the context of continued survival and self-gratification (as we've already seen that 'wants' are prioritized over 'needs' -- and thus satisfaction/personal gratification plays a role all throughout economics -- see Day 40: What is Economics for context) . Rationality is thus not defined within the context of logic or common sense -- but the ability/tendency to behave and think in an egotistical, self-centered and selfish manner. In terms of economics, this gets translated into human beings always acting and behaving in a way which they believe will maximize profit/wealth accumulation or at least minimize costs / loss. Within this context, the human is often referred to as a 'Homo Economicus'.

[Now imagine, I had been reading many texts and readings on the subject where authors kept on referring to human beings making 'rational decisions' -- where to me the decisions described by the author weren't rational at all -- and where I only later found out that with 'rational' they meant 'self-interested'. So you see, economists don't just do magic tricks with numbers -- they also do magic with words!]

The best way to introduce this point within the context of economics may be to look at the famous quote by Adam Smith (18th Century Scottish economists -- often dubbed the "father of capitalism"), from his book The Wealth of Nations:

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages

This quote clearly shows how humans are viewed as essentially self-interested beings -- but where this selfishiness indirectly leads to the 'greater good' of society. This 'movement' from a person being driven by self-interest only and then indirectly through only being considered with their own well-being, supporting society as a whole to be better off -- is often mentioned within the concept of the "Invisible Hand" where it is as though an 'invisible hand' moves everyone in a way that's "best for all".

By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was not part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it. - The Wealth of Nations

What's not being considered here, is that people following their own self-interest does not in fact lead to the 'betterment' of society as a whole -- as the current status within the world clearly demonstrates, where there are more people worse off than there are people well off. This is because no-one has ever been equal or been supported to be within an equal position -- and where those with particular advantages such as skill, access to resources, location, connections etc. -- are able to move more effectively within the system and will 'trample' everyone else within their pursuit of happiness, as a game of survival of the fittest.

What is also interesting to take note of, is that the particular observation of the human  as being essentially self-interested and not caring about anything or anyone else in this world (which is quite accurate, this is what we've accepted and allowed ourselves to become and live out through the current economic system as a reflection/extension of our own nature) -- has never been questioned. Instead of questioning this nature and asking ourselves whether this is something we really want to live by, we took this point for granted and went ahead and built our entire society/economic system upon this point. Where we don't go: "Hmm, us Humans, we are really self-centered egotistical beings who only care about ourselves -- maybe we should do something about this" -- but instead go "Hmm, us Humans, we are really self-centered egotistical beings who only care about ourselves, let's create a society/economic system which uses / harnesses this point to get people to move and create the system in such a way that they are rewarded for self-interested behaviour!"

And so we've created an economic system which is fueled by, and appeals to self-interest to get things done -- instead of human beings re-evaluating their very nature as self-interested beings and committing themselves to changing/transforming themselves as this nature so we may act and behave in a way which is considerate as what is Best for All and be responsible living beings on this planet!