Good Exists

Everybody agrees that there is too much ‘Bad’ in the world. It’s all over the media. The news seems to be full of bad in one form or another. There are a few happy news reports, but they seem buried under all the muck.

But good is there, it just needs to be fostered. Our mindset is all wrong. Monetary systems foster and nurture all of our negative behaviors and in many cases amplify them.

In some cases, the systems even create the behavior itself. Good and bad exist. There can never be one without the other. Therefore, the seeds of both greed and generosity are within each of us. But if we can create a system that fosters our negative traits, then we can scrap it and create a system that instead fosters our positive traits. With a Resource-Based Economy, we could tip the balance in favour of all the good stuff within us. That type of all-pervading system (yes, it would become all-pervading JUST like the money-system is) would foster and grow traits such as compassion, generosity and cooperation as opposed to greed, self-interest, and indifference.

Also, if you look at and scrutinize all the corruption and crime in society, the reason for it, often enough, boils down to money. And those that don’t can be attributed to other illnesses in our society that are directly or indirectly linked with money – or the need for it. Even with a Resource-Based Economy, bad will still exist – because good exists. But it can be lessened, greatly lessened. The system we choose to live within (and yes folks, there is a choice; most people just don’t realize it yet) directs the decisions we make on an everyday basis, from what brand of whatever to buy, to whether or not we should help our neighbour. The first inclination (if you like your neighbour) is to help them, but if it’s too expensive (or if you have to be at work and need or just want the money) then you can’t, so you don’t.

I can’t imagine why any average, everyday human being wouldn’t embrace the idea of a truly free society founded upon cooperation and compassion, as opposed to the current system founded upon competition and self-interest, once they were able to wrap their minds around it. I admit, there is a LOT to wrap around. But once that’s accomplished, the only ones I can see that would still be truly against it are those who fear losing their power over you.

What needs to be fostered is the ‘barn-raising’ mindset. In the past, if someone's barn burned down, the whole community came together and helped that person build a new one. There was no “cost” to this; those who participated didn’t charge the poor people who lost their barn (though I’m sure they were fed by those whom they were assisting). Cooperation such as this needs to be revived, fostered and expanded because such actions shouldn’t only be applied when disaster happens. It can be done most effectively without money constantly in the way, without having to need the funds for the material resources, and without people expecting payment for helping a fellow human being.

It seems that a real catastrophe has to happen before people’s mindset shifts in that direction. Look at all of the first responders of 9/11 ... there were even those who weren’t police or firemen. It takes something that huge to become more important than anyone's comparatively insignificant differences and financial woes. What a world it would be if this mindset could be ever-present in society, supported by a system that fosters it. What the human race could be! But so long as we have currency of any kind, in any system, sadly, nothing can change.