NitN 30 - The Fool (Bernd Reminds Us We’re Already Perfect)

I've been realizing—with help from friends like Bernd—that to evolve into my True and Highest Self, casting spells to Will it into existence is the wrong approach; I just need to strip off the BS and let my innate Goodness shine! Word, I am Word.

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Intro!

“Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.”

That quote is Lao Tzu’s 2500 year old call to do some “quiet quitting.”

That philosopher—or group of philosophers, long story—was undoubtedly unaware that centuries later, we’d be stewarding an exploitative, degrading, profoundly destructive economic system toward its disappearance.

As you probably already know, Capitalism and exploitation are inseparable. Fundamentally.

Profit can be defined as the value left over after your boss pays you less than your work is worth. To oversimplify, if you and a coworker each make half of a widget a day that your employer sells for $4, your employer can’t make a profit unless they pay you and your coworker less than $2 each. Did your boss dangle the possibility you might get a raise or promotion? Did they inspire you to think of your coworker as family who you can’t let down? “Go the extra mile” and make twice as many widgets a day!

Are you actually getting those things? Fundamentally, not everyone can. Too many raises eats into profit and if a company doesn’t grow infinitely, it’s breaking the law. Your boss might get a bonus or some stock for being so “inspirational,” though.

We all know the “inspiration” is manipulation. That’s part of what’s so degrading.

To be coerced into doing jobs that bring us no meaning, purpose, happiness, or fulfillment for a third of our short time alive is degrading enough. The bullish optimism pushed by bosses amidst the collapse of the climate, of American democracy, and of peace between the superpowers, degrades everyone involved.

To be forced to smile through dread causes depression and anxiety whether you’re in a Customer Service job that demands it or whether you need to squeeze every drop of surplus value from your employees.

The legal pressure on companies to constantly grow—called fiduciary responsibility—results in evil. If you’re getting minimum wage, your employer wishes they could pay you less. If you lived elsewhere, they would. Slave labor mines the rare earth minerals for technology like smartphones and even solar panels. Infinite growth demands it.

And forget about solving Climate Change—destruction caused by growth—with just more growth: even if you don’t give a shit about slavery, rare earth minerals are rare.

How do we oppose this evil? By protesting? Rioting? Through a strike that no one has the savings to afford? No. Listen to the Lao Tzu: let it disappear by not opposing it at all… Having boundaries, slowing down and enjoying your life more will mean infinite growth sputters and dies.

The system’s resulting concessions will make twenty grand for your student loan look like a quaint first step.