The world as we can know it

Hello LinkedIn family, I have a query that I’d love if you all could help me with. But first I have to provide a bit of an introduction. So here’s my core belief: outside of politics, religious affiliation, class -- the myriad of identities that one may gain throughout their lifetime -- the true best interest of everyone in this world is actually the same. If you just vigorously shook your head no, I understand. Given the current world climate, both figuratively and literally, I see where you're coming from. But please bare with me for a few paragraphs.?

As a human being, the crux of every single person’s true best interest is: attaining fulfillment.?Other words you can use include empowerment, self-actualization, or wellbeing, however I chose fulfillment because it carries the imagery of being filled to the brim, nearly overflowing.

There is a simple formula for true fulfillment. That is:

1. Having all your basic needs met. So you can properly function in life. (This can be achieved through policy.)

2. Recognizing that you are of value just for being you! Feeling loved, cared for, needed and acknowledged by others. (This can be achieved through community.)

3. Standing in a sense of purpose. Understanding your own unique capabilities and talents, and being given the space and time to figure out how you can use those to create more value in the world.?(This can be achieved through education.)

If we look at the world “on paper,” given all of the resources we have, it should not be that hard to meet these needs for everyone. The problem is that we have designed a system which has been corrupted by an ineffective and faulty set of logic (let's just call it "He Who Shall Not Be Named" for the sake of me maintaining your attention).?Let's look at the world from a monetary lens.

Money, in the way it is currently utilized and distributed:

1. Prevents everyone from having their basic needs met.?
2. Skews, if not ruins, our perception of our intrinsic value.
3. Prevents many, many people from being given the space to find their purpose. (If I have to work 3 jobs to make ends meet, when do I have time to stop and think?)

Money has become the tool we use to reach fulfillment, yet the act of acquiring it divorces us from the metrics we need to get there.

Nowadays, money is actually equated to fulfillment and the pursuit of it can be endless. People go to war, enslave others, dehumanize people, lie, cheat, steal -- all in order to garner this supposed means to an end.

All the while, whether one has money or not, people are still not truly fulfilled. The crisis of isolation, suicide, and drug and alcohol abuse continue to pervade upper class communities just as well.

In terms of helping people attain true fulfillment, the current system is working well for neither the poor nor the people who purportedly “win”.

And the middle class in the US -- the class which is most positioned to make the best of what the system can offer in terms of fulfillment -- is shrinking. The fulfillment finders in society today will tell you that they have to fight the logic of endless money accumulation in order to reach their goals -- many people's stories start with leaving their high-paying jobs to pursue that which uses their innate talents in service to others, which oftentimes does not pay.

So now, my question to you is:

What would it look like if we took away this contention? What if the rules of our society created a scaffold that allowed people to find their niche and pursue it, without the fear of not being able to feed their families?

Despite our steadily shrinking size, we in the middle class have the power to un-overcomplicate our ineffective system. All it takes is a little dreaming.

I have started a Jamboard collaborative with ideas for you to peruse and add to if you'd like. In this time of turmoil and strife, I’d love for us to come together and envision the life we want to create. It would mean the world if you would please click on the link, daydream a bit, and add your ideas.

If your work is already aligned with this goal, I'd love to hear about it! If you disagree with this perspective, please let me know here! All comments are welcome.

Thank you for reading!

P.S. It's been a few days now and I'd like to add an addendum to my question. It is also, more fully: How do we navigate the world with our given and gained identities in a way that allows for all human beings to attain the full life they deserve? That is a question I will spend my life finding the answer for, and I am excited to learn other perspectives to inform this search.

Matthew 7:7-8:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."