Ordinary survives

A very smart ally of mine recently suggested that I consider the idea that I am no different than anyone else. While this may seem somewhat obvious to some people on the surface, there's more for me in looking deeper at the idea that there is nothing uniquely special about me. Because I grew up without many role models that looked like me in the media and the fact that I wanted so badly to be like successful young (mainstream white) people I saw on the TV and in the schools growing up, I was initially resistant, thinking that I was something special was a survival strategy that served me well. The more I began to think about it and ponder over then next few weeks, the more it makes sense to me.

For a long time, there has been special merit or privilege given to those "special" people. In fact, most of the exploitation and mistreatment in the world by one group to another is based on the idea that the oppressing group is in some way more "special" and justified in taking the resources and or humanity of the other group. You can see this in the Catholic Church with the concept of "original sin." In short, everyone is born bad, but some people can do something about it, redeem themselves and then deserve everyone else's stuff, land, resources, or genetic potential.

Last week, it occurred to me that our whole economic system is based on the creation of this "specialness" or lack of it. Most advertising and or propaganda aimed at getting you to buy things is telling you that in order to be "special" and deserving of attention, love, rest, sex, a vacation, or whatever you are supposed to want in a given minute- you must have special things. Mark Twain said something to the effect of,"beware the pass time that requires you to have a whole new wardrobe. " Billions of dollars are spent each day to get you to think that ordinary is horrible in order to get you to buy stuff or act a certain way to get more resource directed your way.

And in school, no one around me told me to just get a "C" and call it good. Everything is based on competition and being above average, above ordinary. Where are the recycled T-shirts that proudly say "average" on the front?

In addition, I survived by making myself useful...

What happens if you are not useful?

What happens if you are not more deserving of riches than anyone else?

What happens if you are not demanding everyone around you reaffirm the idea that you are special on an ongoing basis every day? What if we didn't have to compete for limited resources among us- fighting over the crumbs thrown our way? What could we accomplish together if we were able to just show up and go from there?

I always hear the argument against socialism or anything vaguely different than our twisted version of capitalism (that doesn't count true costs), that there would be no incentive to excel if people had it too easy. I'm rethinking that. Besides, it seems to me that competition is based on rules that different sides agree upon. There's more cooperation in competition that is usually acknowledged.

Would we really just sit there and do nothing useful, nothing special if there was not an economic and or social pressure to compete with everyone around you? Maybe, I wouldn't make the ultra rich and miserable richer.... It's like the Jewish tradition of Shabbat. Just rest and reflect... that's different than the Israeli and US govt's tradition of waging war on people to destabilize the reason... that's another post.


Maybe....
I don't have the answer, just the question...