A long time ago, when I was in high school, I had a history teacher who attempted to teach me about the various kinds of economic and political systems. She did this by polling high school students on how we wanted our course grades to be decided, with each grading system analogous to a different social system:

  • Capitalism: Each student recieves a grade based on their individual performance throughout the various homeworks and tests.
  • Socialism: Each student recieves a grade based on the combination and average of all test and homework scores.
  • Communism: Everyone recieves a C regardless of what the performance on all tests and homeworks is.

The majority of the students in the class wanted “Capitalism”, with a handful of people choosing “Socialism”, and me all by myself with “Communism”. Since this was before I took any courses in economics, 16 year old me thought everyone in the class was super-dumb, as “Communism” was the only guaranteed way to pass without doing any sort of work. Furthermore I was also a disdainful and edgy proletariat: I thought that a ‘C’ was passing, and it was the insatiable greed and selfishness of my filthy bourgeosie classmates causing them to arrogantly demand something better.

Fast-forward to the present, where I now understand economics enough to know that Communism is actually NOT a good idea, if anything because there are people like 16 year old me standing by ready to ruin it. Moreoever, Socialism is not that much better, since functionally it just means everyone immediately fails, or the productive people are demotivated by everyone leeching off of them. Unfortunately, Capitalism is the only way society can last, since no other system is able to peaceably harvest the productivity out of “Sean-type” individuals: people who are possibly ‘encouraged’ into productivity, but in any other system would just meander around and parasitically drain resources (or just get killed off in a labor camp).

Upon reaching this conclusion I was sort of amused, since I realized pretty much everything productive I have done with my life so far has been extrinsically rather than intrisically motivated. In an ideal world, I intrinsically desire eating, staying indoors, playing video games, and idling, and wish for nothing more than to partake in these activities every day. A younger version of me would have also wanted to protect and provide for a life partner and offspring but life experiences have persuaded me otherwise. Every other activity which is not in the above list requires extrinsic motivation, which typically is through money or other resources. Accordingly, any action which does not provide me with a greater capability of indulging in my intrinsic desires simply never gets done.

Starting with after high school: I only went to college because because I was a sheeple and just did what everyone else was doing. I only stayed in because I realized modern society values and compensates smart educated people (rather than dumb uneducated ones). I studied engineering instead of grapefruit peeling or pineapple cutting because engineering career prospects are better (and because I was already a insanely good pineapple cutter). After I graduated college, I got a job because I realized the welfare department would not be willing to keep me alive, and did not want to burden my parents with that task either. Additionally, my current employer financially supported my college education, so I am both morally and legally obligated to be a good employee for them. Currently, In addition to working my day job, I am also furthering my education on the off-chance that one day the skills I acquire will result in a greater earning potential… that and I have a particular compulsion towards collecting certificates (^: . The point is that relative success is possible even with a lack of intrinsic personal ambition, and that none of these things would have been done if I had the wealth to passionately vegetate instead.

It seems people who are intrinsically interested in generating value, and possess the skills and talents necessary to do so, are already doing so. Moreover, even people who are NOT intrinsically interested NOR skiiled and talented (i.e. ME) are pushed by a capitalistic society toward this endeavor. More or less, the majority of the population SETTLES where they can produce the most value, but not necessarily obtain the most happiness. If instead society was oriented to allow people to pursue their passions, people would be happier, but the cost is a loss in productivity that would mean almost certain societal collapse.

Then again, perhaps this is just my narcissism and ego at work, and the actual productivity lost from fellow passionate vegetables choosing not to work is not that much. To end, these are just miscellaneous ponderings I have as I go though my daily life. It is not like anyone reads this blog or is deeply concerned with what I have to say anyway.