The last post about a nail driven by spirit likely was an odd one to the reader. Mariner hopes it loosened the brain a bit to conjure new and unexplored ways of thinking about mundane things. Remember we are in the musing category; practicality is not a requisite.

To clarify nailing with the spirit, mariner attempted to present an economy not pushed along by the motive of personal cash profit but by the motive of ‘passing it along.’ Using only the will or spirit looking to generate ‘profit’ on a benefit passed to you, you look for a way to contribute to the wellbeing of others. In a convoluted way, this generates productivity.

A readily available example is Habitat for Humanity International (HH). HH has built over 2 million homes! Talk about a spirit-driven economy! That’s 2 million homes without personal cash profit as a motive. Still, the resources brought to HH came from cash profits given to the volunteers. It’s as though HH built one link in the chain of economy. How do we, using only empathy to perceive need, spirit and desire, attach the next link of productivity not driven by profit?

This is not something mariner has mastered. However, from deep within Guru, it seems that a cash-driven economy – especially a profit-driven or capitalist-driven economy – will not suffice as human population grows rapidly and the world approaches the year 2100 and twelve billion people will be present and accounted for. And the global neighborhood grows trashier and trashier, eventually contaminating every habitat with one chemical or another. And completing the Sixth Global Extinction (already begun in the 1700’s), which will include Homo sapiens.

Economic examples like the Netherlands and Belgium and another dozen or so similar to Canada have accepted socialist solutions to replace some capitalist solutions. What is lacking in even the most socialist economies is displacement of accrued profit as the underlying vehicle for measurement. In the simplified prototype of ‘Pass it forward,’ the motivation is not personal profit or even the personal stability promoted by socialism. Rather, it operates more like the command “Everyone in the pool!” where each person is out to provide the loudest splash in the pool.

Mariner believes the definition of profit must be altered for survival of Homo sapiens (and other species as well). So far in our history, profit has shown to be intensely destructive to people, environment, natural balance in sensitive biomes, disruptive to oceans, land masses and left alone shows an imbalance among humans that leaves the fortunate more wealthy than they should be while many more starve to death. Add to this worrisome profile nearly half again as many humans and a throttling distribution system that blocks fair distribution of profit, and the human manner of surviving as the world diminishes in its ability to produce in behalf of humans, and we are left with extinction.

In a few days, the mariner will open a forum where everyone can comment and respond to comments. Current economic authors are not much help; their vision remains well entrenched in personal profit motivation. Further, economists don’t often study philosophy as a solution for economic issues.

If readers are aware of futuristic economists already expressing concern about the collapse of human economy due to self-serving priorities, please share your sources.

COMMENTARY SECTION

Reader Ben, in a reply to “If a Nail were driven by Spirit,” suggested if he were a lumberjack, he would rather have a chainsaw than a two-man hand saw. This was in response to the mariner pondering whether it was better to enjoy living a simpler life within the constraints of one’s biological environment or, as we have done at every opportunity in history, used any invention to make life easier. The mariner believes that consumption of technology may be moral but on balance, humans must reduce the number of humans allowed to exist to prevent overconsumption of the Earth’s environment far beyond that expected of the hairless ape.

– – – –

As to Donald, this latest round of rants does not try to camouflage his similarity to Nazi fascism. The reader need only swap a few words and his ideals are too close to Mein Kampf[1].

Switch ‘Jews’ for ‘Latinos;” Switch “ICE deportation camps to load immigrants onto busses” for “trains to Auschwitz.” The method is identical as well: families are forcibly pulled from their homes with no regard for rights, status, or family situation. They are branded like cattle just as Donald wants those deported to be branded with physical identifiers like finger prints and eye patterns. There are more parallels but mariner chooses not to go on. Mariner understands there is not a lot to choose from in 2016 but vote to defeat Nazism. Don’t vote for Donald. The election exposes a lot of interesting change in the US. However, first things first.

Ancient Mariner

[1] Mein Kampf is an autobiography by the National Socialist leader Adolf Hitler, in which he outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. The book was edited by Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess.