10 Limiting Societal Constructs
10 Limiting Societal Constructs
Have you ever asked yourself why we are all so limited? When one considers the countless technologies denied to the people simply because they would have stifled the dominant capitalists ability to swindle the people, and all of the things so many of us can’t do and can’t experience simply because we don’t possess the money or spare time to do so, one sees the immense amount of harm that has been committed against the human race and the planet, in hindering our ability to thrive, just for the sake of a small percentage of people who inherited the money and capability to do so. In this article, I will examine 10 societal constructs that have vastly limited us.
1)Our “Hand ”
The hand in life we’ve been dealt has vastly limited most of us. Most of us were raised in less than ideal conditions, whether we are the rich kid, starving for the attention of our parents, lacking in our ability to mentally thrive, or the poor kid, deprived of our physical ability to thrive, and often our mental ability as well. This is because we were all raised by people who were operating with less of a knowledge base than we are presented with, therefore their ability to make informed decisions was not equal to our own, leading to them doing the best they could, yet, given their “hands”, it was usually not as ideal. Even with the amount of information available today, without the time, curiosity and drive to understand the world more, it is much harder to make informed decisions as to the best way to raise our children and shape our world so that each one of us is given the amount of freedom that is possible in our current world. Our “hand” limits us to operating within the constructs of those who came before us, hindering our ability to thrive, both as individuals, and collectively. One of our collective goals should be unlocking the whole deck for each person, therefore opening up countless possibilities to each of us.
2)Ego
Due to our less than ideal upbringings, we have developed our egos as defense mechanisms. Since most of us are not mentally as healthy as we should be, due to the way we were raised, the harm we have experienced, and the world around us, the majority of us operate with a rotating, underinflated/overinflated ego. Each compliment strokes our egos, as inside we feel underinflated, yet we have moments of overinflation as well. Society, as it is has kept us in this state, which is truly hindering to a healthy mind and a happy life.
The ego, as it should be, is only a realistic sense of self. One with a healthy ego loves themselves unconditionally, forgives their mistakes, improves themselves consistently, judges actions individually, not people (as people are not their actions), and has an accurate perception of their own abilities, never boasting, yet not minimizing their accomplishments.
To one with a less healthy ego, any form of speaking well of one’s self is boastful and arrogant, and any criticism of another’s actions is seen as arrogance. In reality, the person with a healthy ego understands that each of us are developing at our own pace, we all make mistakes and regularly criticizes their own mistakes and examines their own shortcomings without judgment, besides seeing the need to do things differently.
Ego is a big reason for much of the world’s pain and suffering, and achieving this balance should be an essential part of education for each of us. An unhealthy ego limits us by creating upheaval and drama within, which distracts us from bettering ourselves and our world.
3)Fear
Fear is deeply programmed into each of us, likely in our genes. It is a part of the life cycle, which we have become estranged from. We had fear as a motivator to stay alive when we were more in touch with nature and embedded into the natural order of things. We have now transcended most of it, besides natural disasters, which we likely could transcend as well once we put our minds together as equals.
Now, many of our fears are self-conjured, as anxiety and worry illustrate. These fears often times occupy too much of our thoughts, leaving no room for constructive ones. For a long time, I feared betrayal. Then the people who I thought were my best friends betrayed me. After thinking on it a long time, I realized that they were never my best friends if they could have done such a thing to me, so it was a blessing in disguise to out these previously inwardly malicious “friends”. The point of my little anecdote is that our fears often come from a lack of true understanding.
Often, our fears keep us from doing what we want to do in life. We’re worried that if we pursue what we truly want, we will blow it and be left with nothing. What I have come to understand after intense introspection is that none of us will ever have stable happiness until we are all happy. There will always be chances of sabotage from fellow human beings when they’re not mentally healthy, and they may never be mentally healthy until we give each person equal opportunity and a healthy way of processing emotions, past trauma and relating to others.
4)Our Educational System
The educational system, as it currently is, does have its merits, such as literacy, and understanding our limited understanding of science, history, math, and language. Much of the problem is many of us mistakenly assume that what we were taught is infallible and absolute. As many of the people in my generation and older are beginning to understand, even scholars are prone to mistakes and limited by what information they are given, therefore, it is important to take each piece of the puzzle with a grain of salt, understanding that our understanding of what we are taught can change, and should change, when presented with new information.
Another major problem with the educational system is that it is a “cookie cutter”, one-size fits all, kind of system. This was designed under the presumption that we all think the same and have the potential to naturally excel in all areas. What’s become clear is that we are all different. One person has a natural ability in one area, and another has a natural ability in another. This isn’t to say that we aren’t all capable of learning all, I actually do believe this is true, just that we each have our own strengths and passions, which drive our natural abilities. We also each learn ideally in different methods. Some people learn by doing better, others by reading, and others by watching. Some people just need something explained in a way they will understand better, which isn’t necessarily the same way another person easily understands it.
It’s pretty obvious that our educational system needs to be hand tailored to each person, and our information needs to be reexamined and added to, in real time. Digital textbooks, or even virtual reality, will be a big part of that, and a computer analyzed and designed system for each student.
By not presenting education in an ideal way for each of us, we are robbing society of its true potential. That person who works in a factory could have been the next Einstein. That homeless person living on the streets of Seattle could have been the creator of a technology that would one day save your life. It’s shameful to think of how much harm has been done to the world by the limitations of our current education system.
5)Social Norms
The majority of people have a desire to fit in, because standing out often turns peoples’ unhealthy egos against you, leading to bullying. What’s really going on here is that the people making fun of or bullying the other person are afraid that this person is better than them, and intimidated by their ability to use their creativity and come up with original ideas and styles, either consciously or subconsciously. Personally, I believe that each of us are creative, yet some are stifled by their intense desire to fit in, which leads to insecurity of presenting their original ideas or doing or saying something that has never been done or said before. We must each become comfortable and secure with ourselves before truly uninhibited self expression becomes natural. It’s a vicious cycle, and the ego and others’ egos constantly feed it.
Individuality needs to be embraced and celebrated. That’s the best thing about being human! We are all different, therefore incomparable. When we each become completely at ease with ourselves and truly respect others, no one will be afraid to express themselves. It’s the collective need to be better than others, to dominate, that hinders society so much. We can’t all dominate everything. But we can all become the best version of ourselves possible and celebrate others’ accomplishments as vigorously as we would celebrate our own, because when it comes down to it, our accomplishments collectively are as important as our individual accomplishments. When we all thrive, we each thrive more individually. So, let go of the need to control others, and stifle their accomplishments, because it is hindering you from concentrating on your own and possibly even achieving your own, physically, and by creating more people who want to hinder others. Who knows, maybe that person you bullied will one day invent something that is essential to helping you achieve your potential.
6)Others’ Expectations
We often do things simply because we’re expected to do them. Many of us set our expectations high and dream what others perceive to be impossible for us to achieve. We are then put down by others and told to be more realistic and quit living in the clouds. Again, this comes from the need to dominate. The person may not even realize they’re continuing this bullying behavior and may even mean well, but they are sabotaging your dreams and spirit. Never listen to them. Others’ perceptions of what is possible are often jaded by society, and they subconsciously desire to limit you as they have been limited. Their unhealthy egos desire to be the best, so they can feel “happy” and satisfied. In reality, doing this only creates an illusion of success for them, kicking someone else down to feel better.
True happiness will only ever be securely achieved by all once we let go of this need to dominate, the ego, the need to impose our expectations on others. Once we develop healthy egos, we see the importance of encouraging others. We realize how much we’ve been limited by putting so much value on others’ expectations, as opposed to our own aspirations. Help others thrive whenever you can. Thank others for their kindnesses whenever possible, because kindnesses are one of the best things in our current world. Encourage others to follow their dreams, curiosities and strengths. All we can do with the life we are given is make the world a better place than it was before we were born into it. We can’t take anything with us.
Break the cycle of limiting others with your expectations. Future generations will thank you.
7)Money
Money originated as an IOU in barter. The person would later pay back the other with real goods. Now, it has grown out of control, and is backed by nothing. It was probably often a scam back at its origin, when the person was never paid back. Now it’s printed and controlled by the elite and its value is decreased more and more by interest rates (increasing the value of money without the backing of real goods).
It is a system out of control, yet controls and enslaves humanity by focusing our concentration on accumulating material goods for the self and making enough to buy what we need to survive. We have forgotten that we can work for our own survival. We’ve subscribed to the lie that we are protected from harm, yet our ability to thrive is harmed by its very existence. It gives a few people control over the rest of the population. It commercializes food and land and water, destroying the environment by encouraging people to pursue it without regard to anyone or anything else. It stifles our empathy by showing us that placing value in it is the best way to our own “success”. That success comes with the high price of selling your soul. Subscribing to it and its system, something we thought we had no choice in, is responsible for endless suffering and harm to others and our environment, and further perpetuates its existence.
When you look at it that way, you realize we were born into slavery. We are still controlled by a handful of ridiculously rich people who do nothing, yet get everything, mindlessly destroying the planet in its pursuit and humanity’s enslavement. I wouldn’t call that success.
The true sign of success will be perpetual happiness. A concept that is impossible in our current construct of society. To achieve perpetual happiness, we must let go of control of others. We must strive for achieving the best possible potential for humanity, which means the best possible potential for each individual. This essentially means we need to provide automatically everything each person needs to thrive.
“But you can’t just GIVE it to them, they need to EARN it, like I earned what I have.” There you go again…. Ego… Yes, you needed to earn all you have, but only because you were born into slavery. You are like a gladiator, fighting for your freedom, yet all of the cards are stacked against you. The elite mostly had everything handed to them, and they still control us because we are distracted, kept arguing amongst ourselves, never wanting us all to thrive, just ourselves. I will repeat this…
WHEN WE ENSURE WE ALL THRIVE INDIVIDUALLY, WE WILL ALL THRIVE MORE INDIVIDUALLY.
If pretty much any other animal on the planet suddenly had the ability to ensure we all thrived, they would do it without thinking twice. We have that ability now, and are held back by the desire to dominate and deprive others of the things we have been deprived of, hurt others as we have been hurt… It’s absolutely ridiculous to see that we haven’t evolved past this caveman mentality. In fact, I believe many of us truly have, we’ve just been socially conditioned to accept life as it is, when our purpose should always be to improve our lives and improve the planet. This limits us infinitely.
8)Economy
As I touched upon earlier, money has grown so out of control that it destroys our world and we barely even acknowledge it as the culprit. The economy is a fabricated concept that is not essential to our survival, and actually idiotic, if you think about it. We take all of these extra steps manufacturing, delivering, wasting resources, eroding our infrastructure, impeding our own development, polluting our world all for the pursuit of money. We have the technology to produce things so much more efficiently and intelligently, yet we make them to break, waste countless peoples’ entire lives staying invested into this outdated system, and pollute our environment to maintain it. If aliens have visited our planet, it’s easy to see why they wouldn’t want to make themselves known to such a primitive, ignorant species… I don’t even think I need to expand on why this limits us....
9)Capitalism
Capitalism is our economic system, which is the most primitive of all economic systems, as it always collapses. Just examine history for the evidence (hint: The Roman Empire).
10)Government
The government is completely unnecessary, and, I would argue, is the reason for much of our divisiveness and wars. People need protection, but not from most others, from psychopaths and sociopaths… the very people that often times head our governments and corporations. What is needed are only basic laws, such as we can’t harm others, including their ability to thrive, and a police force to enforce only those laws. Also, a worldwide army would be needed only for defense against potential threats to humanity, like comets, malevolent extraterrestrials, and natural disasters. Fighting each other for resources, especially when it is obvious we will be able to 3D print them in the future is incredibly ignorant. Think of the time, resources, and lives invested in keeping up these predatory, parasitic societal constructs…
Some people on top may believe it’s easier to destroy the world and start over, but that is an ignorant, ridiculous thing to do, when we can achieve true happiness, peace and prosperity for all. Living in your bunkers will likely just lead to you all dying of some bacterial or viral super disease that develops from living in such closed quarters for the long amount of time it would require to regenerate the Earth into a habitable environment after you all destroy it.
Real solutions require reexamining our choices and redesigning the system we live in. It’s not a sustainable one, and it’s extremely ignorant. It’s a lot of work, but a lot less work than destroying the world and starting over. We must all strive to fix it before it’s too late. We can do it. Together.
Any questions, comments, or thoughts on my ponderings? Feel free to start a respectful discussion in the comment section. Don't forget to give us a like on Facebook, share with your friends on any media site, and link to this article. I am always grateful to all who read my work. This is my passion and purpose: helping others and creating a beautiful world for my children, and posterity. Also, if anyone else shares this passion, I would love to collaborate and team up to promote our purpose. I am willing to feature your site on mine in exchange for the same or do hangouts videos and talks. This is my job now. :) I appreciate your time and support.
Infinite Love,
-Serendellion
