What if Scarcity is engineered to keep people acquiescent?  What if Fear was the hoped-for result of that engineered scarcity?  Why is America such an aggressive / competitive, even combative society?

Technocracy thinks that scarcity is a false premise and that the resulting fear in not having enough allows injurious actions (to society and the environment) to go unsanctioned. Think of the 1950s when anyone not wealthy and white had to put up with a lot of troubles so they could keep their jobs, put food on the table for their families, and sometimes, so they would not be killed.  (re: hangings in the South).

anger-and-fear

Currently, Fear and Anger have become the default emotions in America.  Fear that “THEY” might take away what we have or want or need.  The selection of ‘They’ changes periodically, when I was young it was the Cold War and hiding under flimsy desks in case of a nuclear attack.  This does not mean there is no threat, but what is behind the threats?  Society changes when experiencing Fear of Scarcity.

HOW THIS AFFECTS SOCIETY: In our society, getting ahead is the main goal. To teach people to get ahead in business, schools and businesses teach competitiveness, aggressive tactics and even borderline (or not so borderline) cheating – just to win and get the biggest paycheck or profit.

COMPASSION; considering how your decisions affect your neighbors, the surrounding environment, and the world at large is not a normal part of the business strategy for a profit based business.  The end results (the profit) is the priority.

BUT, the world has the technology, the resources, and the intelligence to have an effective and efficient production and distribution system that would sustainably support the world’s population for food, housing, information access, health care, tools, clothing, etc.  How do we get to the point where people can truly understand this?  How do we change our view of the world from “Take it first so you have enough and let other people fight for theirs;” to “Let’s work together so we all benefit.” How?

paradigm-shift-cartoon

A paradigm shift is needed, not just localized, but for the world at large.  There are hundreds of thousands of groups making a difference all over the world for the environment and society.  Many of these wonderful groups are making a difference, yet even in the altruistic world, there is competitiveness and a feeling of scarcity.

Sharing, supporting, and growing together is seen as diminishing the return of profit (donations).  Even in the support and service industry the competition is fierce.

What would this paradigm shift consist of, how could we change our approach and our underlying assumptions of support from scarcity to abundance?

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One approach would be to start local.  Be the one (business, nonprofit, grassroots organization, or individual) that collaborates without fear of losing your funding.  Bring the mindset of abundance and know that your mission has value and that people will be learning to share, have compassion, and think a different way.

An unspoken part of your business’s mission will be to show people a different way of thinking of resource acquisition and use.  Do you need to purchase fertilizer from a manufacturer thousands of miles away, or can you help the nearby farmer clean up the barn and use the organic matter?

Look at the new technologies and see if there are open-source blueprints for the technology you need.  Most communities have mechanical minded souls; do a little trading, put your requests into a time-bank open request forum.  These techniques cost no money and they invite collaboration, and relationship / community building.

Another way is to collaborate with others to begin an Environmental and Societal Impact Economic Standard, similar to the resource based economy that Technocracy introduced in the 1930s, but using Technocracy’s Transition Plan taking the concept further by considering the effects on society as well as the environment