Train of Thought, Part 2: Towards Abundance
The Scarcity Trap
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all learn to give our egos a good job in service of something greater than ourselves? Certainly some of us try, but of course it doesn’t always work out that way. The prevalence of ego-driven othering and the resulting division in today’s world is staggering. Yet, is it really more common than it’s ever been, or is it just more in our faces because of the saturated, frenetic, and never-sleeping media environment of the 21st century? Either way, many human societies today laud individual differentiation and achievement – in the United States, there is a brand of comparison-driven, desperate scrambling for success that is combined with - and born out of - built-in inequality and outrageous levels of entitlement. We drink this volatile and powerful ideological cocktail, and it gives us the foundational principles of our social, political, and economic systems. The result is that many of us are drunk with the need to “get ahead,” but ahead of what or whom?
It’s one of the first things taught in high school Economics classes: Scarcity is the principle upon which Capitalism (you know, the American Way) is founded. This scarcity paradigm – sneakily couched as the promise of America as “the land of opportunity” – in which we live and struggle dictates that there is only so much [wealth; success; joy; love; prosperity; human rights; safety; nourishment; respect; time; opportunity] to go around. Therefore, in order for me to have more, you have to have less. And, because everything is scarce, I have to – and have permission to – do almost whatever it takes to “get mine,” including taking yours away.
Even more insidious is the ideology that says not only does it have to be unequal, but inequity doesn’t actually exist because I actually just deserve what’s mine, more than you do - I’m more deserving, more capable of pulling myself up by my bootstraps. If you’re failing, it’s because you were born less than and that’s just how it is. This is the fixed mindset, on the grandest scale; our cruel twisting of the idea of meritocracy means that it’s only the land of opportunity for some, because that’s how the system stays functional – if there’s only so much to go around, there have to be Winners and Losers (does that language sound familiar?). But if you dig down underneath the social constructs and the unmitigated egos that wrote up our social contracts – and that continue to enforce them – is scarcity a natural state of being for humans?
In Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Harari, 2015), we learn that the threshold for harmonious human social living is 150 people; above that number, social stratification, class-based oppression, politics, and unequal resource distribution tend to take over as means of division and socioeconomic control. It’s almost as if people can only tolerate so much humanity – and I suppose I understand, especially when I’m tired or feeling socially burned out. But does this mean that we should turn the United States into 2 million siloed 150-person communities? While that would be quite the social experiment – and would be soothing for some people I know – it’s easier to examine how we can create some level of social harmony and equality within existing communities. One way we can choose to do this – especially on the smallest levels, one relationship or family or community, which is where every social movement starts – is to affirm abundance.
Seeing the World Through the Lens of Abundance
The antidote to our scarcity-driven rat race is to adopt the belief that there is enough. This doesn’t mean that we are deluded or in denial about the state of human society – unequal resource distribution, political/social/economic/racial oppression, and prejudicial policy and political action are very real. Violence – religious, political, racial, economic, geographical, sexual – is a clear and present danger in the 21st century and in every other century since human societies took on their modern, larger-than-150-people configurations. Affirming abundance is not about pretending these don’t exist; it IS about choosing which lens through which to see the world. If this sounds asinine and impossible to you, rest assured that you’re not alone; also rest assured that the people in charge of these systems are delighted that you feel that way. The affirmation of abundance is not a Pollyanna interpretation of a world that feels like a mess at times (more messy and more often for some people than others). It is simply a belief in possibility and a return to a deep-seated, DNA-level fundamental place within each of us – because the kinds of divisions that humans create don’t exist in Nature.
We have chosen to step out of Nature’s paradigm, balance, and pace. This creates perhaps our largest barrier to human harmony: Our collective lack of connection with the natural world.
We spend less time in Nature than at any time in human history. Most people live in urban centers in which, even at their best, brave groups of people have to fight for permission to cultivate so-called green spaces in which they can find a moment of respite amidst the chaos of their concrete-shrouded, tech-driven, lightning-paced lives. I hear some people say they love living in the city, and as a friend of mine would say, “good for you.” My experience of city life is of being quickly overwhelmed by the noise, energy, pace, and pollution of most cities I’ve visited.
While spending less time in Nature is part of the problem, what causes so much of our underlying strife is the breakneck speed at which we try to do everything; although it brings incredible progress, we have outstripped the pace of Nature, and so we feel frantic and disconnected…because we are. Lao Tzu said that, “Nature does not hurry, yet all is accomplished.” Certainly, we’ve lost sight of that fundamental truth as we’ve pushed harder and harder in the name of what we call progress. We talk of sustainability in terms of the environment, energy, and resources, but until we take Lao Tzu’s advice and begin to evolve at a humanly sustainable pace (aka, slow down) it’s hard to envision humanity surviving as we know it. Is that possible – or even what we deserve – or have we tipped too far over the edge? I have my opinion, but I also have an idea.
Go outside and meet yourself
One way to begin to affirm harmony and abundance is to actually spend time in places where those things exist, where things that feed on water and sunlight grow. We think of plants and trees, or “other animals,” but you are also one of the things that needs water, sunlight, clean air, and healthy food to thrive.
It is not a surprise that humanity’s mental, emotional, social, and physical health is in decline. And yet, there are some simple things we can do to transform that trend. All of them begin with slowing down in order to connect with Nature. That gives the opportunity to connect with our deeper and more authentic selves, and after THAT, with each other from a more authentic and transformational place. If you live in a city, “being in Nature” could mean finding a copse of trees in an urban park, one of those hard-won green spaces; it’s not the same as a forest, but if that’s what you’ve got, that’s a start. Taking a walk without your phone – I know, what about all the TikTok trends you’ll miss in that 30 minutes, unimaginable – or just going somewhere with decent air and breathing can begin to slow you down from your frantic grind and bring you into a more natural rhythm.
Once you’re in that place, take a couple of breaths. I don’t mean just breathing to stay alive; do it on purpose. Literally, when you’re just breathing with some intention, you are actively recalibrating and settling your nervous system. Can you take a few minutes and just sit – in some grass, on a park bench, near some water, on your back porch or stoop if you have one – and allow yourself to catch up? More than anything, what we need individually and collectively is stillness to bring us back into alignment with our authentic selves. That might sound excruciating, or like some hippie drivel, and fine; if you feel that way, maybe the first step is to examine WHY that sounds so hard or where your judgment is coming from. What I’m telling you is this: The way back to yourself is to slow down and get underneath the noise.
It’s hard to breathe through the discomfort of being with oneself, sometimes. Putting away our devices for a little while leaves an empty space that is usually filled with stimulation and constant hits of dopamine, and that can leave a person feeling anxious and, somewhat ironically, disconnected. Yet, we have to breathe through the chaos of our own minds as the million thoughts slowly drain or fly away, leaving a quiet into which the best thing is to…you guessed it: Just breathe (cue Faith Hill).
Joseph Campbell described “a [quiet] place within each championship athlete” from which action comes; my understanding of that place is that it is one of not only stillness, but also deepening intuitive knowledge and emotional neutrality. These are concepts with which many of us have little or no real practice, and yet Campbell’s championship athlete could easily be any normal person trying to get through the challenges of their daily life. For all of us, the dedicated practice of cultivating stillness is guaranteed to lead to a space in which we can choose what Buddha called right action.
Whatever that place is to you, it can be hard to find and tough to stay in. And, it’s worth it to finally get underneath all the things that our society tells us we “should” or “shouldn’t” be, or be doing, in service of our devotion to overcoming the world’s scarcity. It is also, not coincidentally, the place at which we arrive when we’re in true connection with Nature, if we can get there…and in Nature, abundance is everywhere – or at least everywhere that humans haven’t drilled, cut, mined, or polluted yet in our quest for dominance over everything. If each of us could even just spend a little time trying to connect rather than conquer, whether it’s the world or your neighbor or your true self, we might have a chance to not only affirm abundance as a mental, emotional, and spiritual practice; we might also create it on the material level.