Are We Selfish — Or Just Survivors of a Broken System?

When you speak to the average person on the streets out there, they’ll tell you all they care about is how to afford their next meal and that of their family. Beyond that they have very little care for others and what they have going on in their lives. At first I thought people were just selfish and maybe somewhat evil but with more reflection I’ve come to understand that they are just victims of a societal system designed to prioritize individuals much more than the collective.

In some western countries, even knowing the name of your neighbor is a luxury most can’t afford, talk less of building a bond with them and socializing. In other countries they suffer from so much poverty and hardships that most people can’t afford to care about anyone beyond their direct responsibility. This isn’t selfishness, it’s just the result of a broken system designed to maximize productivity; certainly, if being social helped people work harder, then it would have been taken much more seriously.

In society you’ll certainly notice that it feels like everyone is working for their own interests alone, aside for some families and communities which really strive to stay united and collaborative; others go years and even decades without seeing or speaking to each other. It’s not that people hate each other or that they don’t care, they certainly do because they really don’t have any reason not to, but they are part of a system which doesn’t prioritize that.

It’s a broken system

One thing I’ve come to understand is that the world is a complex place with many moving parts, its just not as simple as saying that the system was designed out of ill intentions but you have to be able to recognize not just the flaws of the system but where they come from.

The optimization of the productivity of society was necessary to ensure not just our survival but also guarantee our prosperity.

Now this came with a lot of downsides too, however, to say it was intentionally created flawed I think is a stretch.

Looking back at it now we can certainly say we should and could have done things differently but you have to realize at that moment there really wasn’t any way of knowing where any path would have led. Even today with the latest technological trends, there is no telling where its going to lead us.

What an ideal system should look like

In simple terms an ideal system would be one in which we are allowed to express ourselves to the fullest and I am not talking about communication, I am talking about exploring what it means to be a human being. Certainly, the greatest expression of what it means to be human can’t be all about working 12-hour shifts till death, I would like to think we have a better purpose than that. Right now we are just forced to do so to ensure our continuity but hopefully we can move past that in the near future and explore some other avenues of discovery.

Where it works

Not every part of the world has a broken system, in some countries you can still find indigenous groups with amazing social ties, with everyone working for the good of the community and helping each other. There is often a correlation between technological innovations and societal isolation, it seems like the more a society grows its technology, the less social they become. Don’t take my word for it, there was a time in recent memory where parents where struggling to get their kids out of the home to go play outside, nowadays they’ve given up on that. Kids can stay home all day long infront of their computers or phones without ever having to see sunlight.

Is this system by design ?

The short answer is yes! When you look back at the reasons why most things exist in the way they do you’ll often find out that greed and many other evil intentions lurk behind all those choices. Those in power often tend to prioritize their own interests over the greater good of even humanity and its only when (and even then) doing the right thing doesn’t hurt their interests that they’ll care to do so.

Conclusion

I won’t blame everybody for being out for themselves, I can acknowledge that we are all much more victims of a system we created to ensure our survival than just some ill-intentioned persons who only care about themselves. Being social is written deep down into our DNA, caring for each other and working together are all things we do naturally, however, to have a prosperous society we had to develop a herd mentality where people are much more focused on work than on socializing with each other.

Thanks for reading ☺️