Scarcity and abundance are often thought of in terms of the THINGS that people have and the THINGS they don't have. The problem with this line of thinking is that we tend to place value on other people's lives as well as our own based on the THINGS and STUFF we have. Picture a homeless man. The first thing you would probably associate with him is scarcity. Now picture someone who lives in a mansion. The first thing you probably thought of was abundance. This is where we go wrong. You see, scarcity and abundance have nothing to do with what we have. In fact, scarcity and abundance are the two mentalities people live their lives with. Let's look at what a real abundant society looks like compared to a society based on the scarcity mentality. Prepare your mind for a major paradigm shift right here.
Main characteristics of a scarcity mentality society:
1. Competition for resource is fierce. Predation and aggression are necessary for survival.
2. Trust is limited to the clan, the family. Outsiders are by experience only predators or enemies.
3. People spend more time in maximizing resources and developing tools for extracting maximum resource from Nature. Nature is a threat!
4. Speed is important for survival. Observing the natural cycle carefully and timing one's actions are critical for survival.
5. Compliance to social norm is rigorous. One person's misbehavior could jeopardize social survival. Individualistic rather than collective
6. People are always on their guard, preparing to fight out of danger.
7. Warriors are celebrated and heralded.
8. A man is a wolf for a man. Survival belongs to the strongest. Win/Lose.
9. Wars are permanent and pervasive.
10. Skilled in the application of violence
11. Obsessed about security
12. Can’t understand idleness and contemplation
Main characteristics of an abundance mentality society:
1. Aggression is limited, as competition for resources is limited.
2. Trust is open ended toward all people, even people outside the immediate community.
3. People spend more time in contemplation and search for absolute connection with natural forces. They want to protect nature.
4. People are not concerned about time.
5. People's compliance to social norms is limited or relaxed. Collective rather than individualistic
6. People are nonchalant, and laid back.
7. Priests and Magicians are the most powerful members of society.
8. We are all one humanity, nurtured by the same nature. Win/Win
9. Wars are limited.
10. Helpless in front of violence
11. Obsessed about peace
12. Can’t understand restlessness and speed
Credit and thanks to Mawuna Koutonin for nailing these points about the reality of what scarcity and abundance really looks like on a mental and societal level.
Hopefully these two mentalities paint a much clearer picture for the way society plays out the way it does. Once again this has nothing to do with the THINGS or STUFF people have. The abundant mentality is more harmonious with nature and is beneficial for people all over the world. We should not be competing with each other for THINGS. We obviously see the results of what it does to cultures and people all over the world. My challenge to you is to seriously question which paradigm you base your life on and how to develop a more abundant mentality. Give more. Love more. Live with more peace, integrity, and respect for others as well as the Earth that God gave us to take care of.
Which mentality is your life centered around and why? Please feel free to comment and upvote.
Agreed.
People get so caught up on something as simple as happiness, when all it really takes is a simple decision to be happy.
We are all lucky and have abundance in our different ways!
Happiness is very key and it's the intangibles that are worth more than anything. Thanks!
Scarcity is an economic fact. However, shortages and conflict are not the necessary outcomes of scarcity. Innovation and the market process alleviate scarcity while reducing conflicts.
When there is an economic shortage, conflict is not far behind. People go to war over economic scarcity. My point is that the scarcity mindset leads to conflict. An example of this scarcity mentality is how many countries are exploited for their resources. The people who exploit others are operating out of a scarcity mindset because they feel they have to have more of what others have. If they had an abundant mentality then they wouldn't see the need to go and take things from others because there is enough for everybody already.
Wars are political, not economic. Free economies find ways to transcend shortages through human innovation. Only reliance on government solutions produces the kind of conflict you describe. Further, central planning guarantees shortages and fuels the conflicts that feed support for government.