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Sounds Good In
Theory
May 27th, 2009 by Gary Hipworth
Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations) is one of the main thinkers who coined the term 'the invisible hand' for an individual in capitalist society acting in their own self-interest would at the same time be acting for the best outcome of the common good.
This may have been the case for the last 200 years, but things keep on changing e.g population explosion, scarce resources depleted, better technology, global interlocking financial and economic and cultural systems, common environment breaking down, more educated people, more poverty, greater gaps between the haves and have-nots, species extinctions increasing rapidly, rise of extreme fundamentalist ideologies that do not value life. In short, there is a number of converging major forces that mean that 'business as usual' for the plus 6 billion plus people on this planet is no longer a viable way to go forward.
Something has to change and it is us. By this I mean whatever is causing humanity to behave so destructively towards its own environment and fellow humans must be put under the microscope and we must find better ways to live together than pure self interest. One definition of insanity is to keep on doing the same thing and expect a different result!
So how can you change your life forever where everyone wins?
I see most people playing the game of life I have called 'eitheroritus' meaning the rules of the game are 'you or me', 'win or lose', 'the economy or the environment', 'selfishness or altruism', 'this or that'. Why not look at the big picture and find a purpose bigger than your purely selfish ego concerns, and design your life so that both the larger group or society's needs and your own needs are both met at the same time?
This way of living is known as Enlightened
Cooperation (EC).
It is a much better way to live, because a few moments reflection and it is blindingly obvious that a win/ lose
game is a zero sum game, whereas a win/ win game (EC) is good for everyone. The big challenge for us all is to find
ways to think and act from a bigger perspective than just 'what's in it for me?"
The amazing paradox is that when you or I become more ethical and altruistic in our actions, we feel better about ourselves, we become more engaged in our communities, we take more ownership of the world around us, and we don't allow others to push us around any more. This makes one happier and more productive too and no longer content to just go along and accept the status quo, because it is killing us all softly, gradually, eventually.
EC also stands for 'Equal
Citizens'.
When we really do see that in all the really important things about being a human being – that is, we all die, we
all want a good life without going hungry, or being bashed, we want to be happy and not suffer too much, we want to
love and be loved – that we are equal in the things that really matter, then a new society is more likely.
Hmmm. EC also stands for Enough Crap.
