Those working on Copiosis once were described as “anti-capitalists.”
That’s a misnomer. We’re pro-something else.
We focus on capitalism as little as possible. Instead, we talk a lot about what we support: real freedom and fundamental change.
Capitalism never has and never will create freedom. It cannot because it depends on people doing what they don’t like to do, in order to get their needs met.
I talked with a woman via email recently whose words capture this nicely:
I recently told my husband that, similar to Martin Luther King’s dream, my dream is to live in a world where people are not “valued” based on some arbitrarily determined market rate that may be designed to exploit them, but rather, for the amount of joy they contribute to the world while endeavoring to lead a personally fulfilling life. Humans are not just economic inputs. We can do better than the current system. Thus, Copiosis is really resonating with me…
This is what we are “pro” about. What this woman’s words point to is Real Freedom.
Real Freedom blows away what Americans think Freedom is. Real Freedom sounds like this:
You might not think this is possible. That doesn’t mean it’s not possible though.
We focus on what we want rather than what is because focusing on what is makes what is persist. If we were anti-capitalist, we’d be fighting against it, vilifying it and agreeing about how bad it is, much like a lot of demonstrators do.
I don’t blame capitalism for anything. Tremendous good came from it. I point out capitalism’s problems for clarification’s sake because I recognize most people who believe capitalism is the best humanity can ever create often fail to see them.
It’s difficult solving problems when they remain unacknowledged.
“We’re not fighting capitalism, we’re allowing money and capitalism to gently retire.”
Once I had a conversation with a guy who tried convincing me how bad capitalism is, how bad corporations are and how bad rich people are. I have these kinds of conversations a lot. I try to show how people and companies are not bad. They just follow the rules of our collective game.
The one percent just got so good at the game, they can change the rules while playing it. That’s another of capitalism’s flaws: The winner gets to change the rules instead of all of humanity changing any rules.
I learned long ago through martial arts that pushing against something is dumb. It only triggers resistance. It’s much better focusing on what I want rather than on what I don’t want. It makes social engineering easier.
We’re not fighting capitalism, but allowing money and capitalism to gently retire. That sounds like semantics, “anti-capitalism” vs. “pro something else.” But the difference has a profound effect on my mindset and my outcomes. I think our progress so far is evidence of that.
Soon Real Freedom may become humanity’s rallying cry. It won’t be about opposing the status quo. It will be about bringing forward a future wherein people are really free.
