Win or Die Trying

Photo by Dim Hou on Unsplash

Humans have needs. We need shelter, clothing, and sustenance. Where do you think those things come from? Resources. Resources are acquired. How do you acquire resources? They have to be taken. Through evolution humans have civilized the hunting and gathering process by rewarding certain behaviors over others. The need never changed, the means of acquiring the need did.

Instead of foraging for fruits, nuts, and seeds, killing wild beasts, and catching fish, we perform. We’ve turned intellect and means of production into something more valuable than the product itself. People will sell millions of dollars’ worth of bad product but get rewarded for their ability to do so. On the other hand, not all products are bad, and they contribute greatly to the advancement of society.

Then there are premium products, or products that may or may not be essential, but they have a price tag that suggests otherwise. Have you ever considered what you give up by not producing anything for yourself? Money isn’t a fundamental need, it’s a means to that need. Be in the middle of nowhere, with no means of transportation, no way to get in contact with anyone, and no one ever coming to rescue you in a material way, with a fist full of cash, and tell me how warm it will keep you when the sun goes down. How safe it will keep you when the wild animals start roaming the grounds, how fed it will keep you, and the kind of sweaters you’re able to knit with it.