Potlatch

Before we built this modern economic system, people relied on cooperation. Contrary to popular belief, economic life didn’t emerge from bartering with your neighbor and eventually using some kind of currency to substitute when a cow couldn’t be split two ways. The technology eventually caught up once economic forces were invented. Before, however, gift-giving economies ruled. The community came together and exchanged goods (like potlatch) to ensure the well-being of everyone else. Gift giving is now seen as archaic. We must move forward with “economic progress.” (Insert sarcastic font.)

But these forces continue to take a life of their own—literally. They are ideas that insulate themselves by creating laws to protect them. “The economy” is talked about as a living thing. Corporatism continues to invade our everyday language.

And now we continue to live with both the benefits and the consequences. We create abundant food while upholding a system that can’t distribute it well enough to feed everyone. Wants and needs are now seen together, and as a result, create slaves to the material condition. While many continue to see a path of tear down to build back up, I think of how to evolve.

Modern-day capitalism works exactly as we created it. Pointing the flow of resources for a few leaves the masses wanting more. But, it isn’t enough to say the rich need to pay their fair share. If you were to take all the wealth of the top 1%, you could fund the government for 8 months. That’s it. It goes back to what we will put at the center of our lives. As I get older, I see that we need more than ever dignity. Purpose. Meaning.

We are not here to serve capitalism. Capitalism is here to serve us. I look at my home state, Utah, which was just awarded the best economy in the United States. And my answer is, to enable what? The goal isn’t to win economics. The goal is to live a life we can all be proud of.

/rant