At the end of this short piece, I share a video that’ been gathering dust in my archives.
It may be rather long and rambling, but the great point Jamarl’s speech ultimately comes down to is: What kind of life do we want to live? He mentions nobody wanting to be a cog in a wheel which is what people end up being in our current human world. So, ask yourself what kind of life do you want to live?
I am reminded of teenagers who nowadays almost invariably tell you they want to become a hip hop star or successful actor/actress, a dream hardly anyone can ever fulfill. I am also reminded of all those people we see on TV, such as talking heads, pundits, establishment journalists, writers, professors, and politicians. Sometimes even scientists. In other words, people of note who don’t lose themselves among the mass of “ordinary” citizens.
I started out as a scientist. Not because I am one of these attention whores who shoot out of the ground like mushrooms nowadays. No, I simply wanted to use my talents to contribute to a better world. I was thwarted by the rigging in this world. Ever since, I have only been a cog on wheels… wheels that make the rich rich and shaft the rest of us. So what would be a better world?
Could we all become scientists, doctors, writers, honest politicians and famous activists…? No, of course not. The majority of us will always be the ones who don’t stick out. Does that have to mean being a cog on a wheel with no dignity and no joy, though?
Not necessarily. When I think back to my childhood, my science path was a direct outcome of my childhood hobbies. If I had not had to fight a hopeless fight in a rigged world, if – say I could have spent my life with robots doing all the hard work and chores for us and me easing through life on a guaranteed citizens dividend (universal basic income) sort of like I did as a child when my parents took care of my material needs – I could simply have continued my hobbies and enjoyed my life whether or not I took my hobbies to a level where they contributed to our scientific knowledge or my achievements were noticed by others. This kind of blissful, worry-free life, I think, is the secret yearning buried in all or most of us, the one that makes many of us yearn for the lost days of our childhood.
Let’s excavate this blissful, worry-free life and bring it back (and also to those who had terrible childhoods). At the cusp of machines taking over from us in all our paid work, why not plan for a life for all of us that resembles the freedom of the childhood many of us once enjoyed, the freedom the privileged (aristocrats in the past, plutocrats today) have always and still enjoy throughout their lives?
When we are ultimately all replaced by machines (workwise), why not free us all?
(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “A New Society – 420 Discussion”)
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Ending Note: It takes me at least 100 hours a month to research and write news updates and analyses and work on my book. Please widely share links to these articles, so this work is not for naught. You can also help in other ways (including much needed financial support). Only together can we change this messed-up world. Let’s do it! 🙂
Beanstock's World 
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