Can Money Mindedness Stop War?

Last Year ended with Ukraine and Russia shelling each other and sending young men and women to the meat grinder. This year ends with Israel and Palestine bombing each other and sending thousands to heaven and hell. A shocking scene from my favorite show 'Breaking Bad' comes to mind. Todd shoots dead a kid. Jesse is shocked beyond measure and it's meant to be a pivotal point in the show. A single death in the sea of deaths in the show shook the audience's conscience and made them hate the characters even more. But even as I am writing this thousands of kids are dead in Palestine. And of course many in Israel side as well. A cycle of violence that goes back decades and even centuries. I would be extremely interested to know the thoughts of the fictional character Jesse on the war and what his mindset would be after seeing news after news, image after image, and video after video of children dying, dead, or missing. Will he support Israel or Palestine? Will he cut short his Alaskan holiday and join forces with his favorite team? Or will he give himself up to the Cops on the condition that the War in the Middle East is stopped and peace is given a chance? Most probably questions that will never be answered.

But enough of going on a tangent about a fictional character and his thoughts on a genuine and fierce war. In reality, it's sickening and incomprehensible what men, learned men and women are willing to do, to dominate. To show they are right or that they are strong. To win the ideological war or the media narrative war. No shocking music or sad music as kids and pregnant are annihilated. Turned to rubble by man-made weapons. Newer and newer weapons kill faster and faster. And you can be farther and farther away from the enemy. Need is not the father of invention. War is. The amount of inventions and innovations that happen during wartime far exceeds what happens during peacetime. Fear of death or being vanquished is the greatest motivator for humankind. And sometimes I feel that this is why humans are almost addicted to war. The need for motivation to do stuff is the greatest when you have an enemy and you have to stare him down in an ideological and technological war. Bet nothing beats that feeling. Friendly competitions are never that intense. No adrenaline there.

Now to bring the conversation to another part of the debate; Work. A normal thing. A thing that everyone does. Going to work. Work from home. Door-to-door work. House work. This work, that work, and the other. Playing video games and recording yourself for YouTube. Even if five people watch the video. Its work. Damn honest work. And everyone swears by it. Work is worship. Work brings money and money solves everything. If only the damn terrorists weren't so lazy. If only the damn citizens weren't so lazy. You are lazy, you are not working towards something. If you worked you wouldn't be a terrorist or someone in a weak position. A common denominator in a lot of online conversations about War and poverty. Which led me to think? If everyone was a workaholic and obsessed about earning money would there be no war? No injustice? No violence? Will peace, logic, and empathy prevail over ego and anger? Will everyone be rich? Will the children be safe, and Jesse remain in Alaska? Leading me to write this rather spontaneous article.

An empty vessel makes the most noise' as the famous saying goes. but I feel that's wrong. As are 95% of sayings. People use many things for inspiration but the world is 8 billion strong. Or weak. Whatever side of the global warming debate you are on. No saying can encapsulate the complexity of human existence and personality. And this to me is the root cause of conflict. The need to make sense of it all and to encapsulate human experience in brief words and to realize unfortunately it can't be done. The brain has only a limited amount of space and many don't even use it fully. Which is all right. But such people and even people who exercise their brains go through times when they are unable to comprehend things leading to negative emotions such as anger and jealousy. Which is not all right. And the advent of technology is making matters worse as ADHD increases and people are unable to keep their attention on stuff for less than a few moments. Which is not enough to learn about anything or anybody. So we go back to sayings. We want them to be true. It will solve everything, won't it? If the tortoise won everytime or if the guy who is first everywhere gets everything or take whichever saying inspires you. But you will realize nothing can encapsulate human existence in simple words. Humans have tried for centuries to put labels and stereotype people. To make it easy to store memories and experiences related to people of different races and religions. But to no avail. We are too complex.

And add to this complexity is work. Does work stop you from feeling negative? Does work make everything cool and sweet? Does not the added pressure and office politics make it harder for you to concentrate on worldly stuff? My boss is fucking me in the arse who gives a flying fuck about the Middle East? Or Ukraine? Or whatever? I am too tired. I am too stressed. I am too poor. It's ok. You don't have to care about stuff. But you also know deep in your heart that you do. Animals are becoming extinct, the planet warming up, and dietary habits. plastic usage, sex trafficking, gender equality, morons in politics and how to kick them out, drugs and alcohol addiction, loneliness, mental health epidemic, open borders or closed borders, mass immigration, fake news, deep fakes, and the list goes on and on and on. These are all things that affect us and only because of work that many of us do not have the energy to devote to these matters. These are serious issues. Extremely serious issues.

So for me, a blanket statement that being focused on making money solves everything doesn't ring true. A populace can not be too money-minded and be one of the best civilizations on the planet. An empty vessel need not be a spoiled vessel. It doesn't work that way. Scientists have been saying it for years. A hardworking and controlled population is the bane of modern society. We are too disconnected, in a world inundated with social media apps no less, to care for each other. We are too eager to take sides and show ourselves as superior. A society filled with a more competitive spirit and less empathy. A society that is declining in terms of natural resources. And nothing beats nature. You may be living on top of the world and have hundreds of cars but without clean air and a green cover, you won't enjoy a thing. Without clean water, you won't exist. Without moderate temperatures, Humanity will flat-out be annihilated. Thank God for the Coronavirus!

While unfortunately many souls departed the Planet, many and many reconnected again with nature. Many got a break from their hectic life. Many started reading writing and thinking. Many saw the effects of their jet-hopping lifestyle and how a few months without spreading pollution had helped the Planet. This led to lots of good ideas about work-life balance and fighting for Mother Earth. And one of the best was Working from home. Many still are doing that. Though corporations tried their damn hardest to force people to the office but in the end many of them gave up. Work was being efficiently done from work. Fuel and money were being saved. The planet was being given another chance to repair itself. A great thing. Which led to another great thing.

Four-day, workdays. And according to Bill Gates, we could have three-day workdays. Giving people more time to make sense of their experiences and encapsulate the world in much broader terms. More time to make the right choice in conflicts and debates. More time to realize that the world is grey. No one's a hero in this deeply flawed world. And taking sides is madness. In the end with the three-day workdays and the advent of technology, we are going to become lazier and get the same amount of work done. Will that be a boon for Humanity, or will we see more wars and conflicts? I hope for the latter, but human history doesn't fill me with confidence. However, I am happy to report Workaholism isn't tied to conflicts. That's enough for me.