The Imprisoning of Spirit

We live in a prison fashioned by the financial system that enables 1%-accumulation. This is the kind of poetic political rhetoric those who inhabit pulpits like. Emotively we can respond to such a statement, most rejecting a few accepting, but the real questions are "what meaning is contained in the rhetoric?", "how much truth is there in it?", "what sort of prison is it?""

To understand how all-encompassing this imprisonment of human spirit is, we first have to understand the meaning of freedom, when is the human spirit free? And here we have to begin to understand nature, and how we as humans need to exist in nature? This is not easy to describe. Traditionally human existence could be seen as some function of hunter-gathering. But humans have developed mentally, and in doing so we have developed a society in which this hunter-gathering has been replaced. Has this replacement occurred "naturally"? Can we use the term "naturally" in a description of our society and its "developments"?

Let us go back to hunter-gathering. Can such a "primitive" existence be termed free? Emotionally I would say not because I am a nesh human who contributed to society as a teacher and now as a writer. Whenever I have turned my hand to growing food I have failed, and my hunting skills are non-existent. Maybe necessity would provide but I think not - certainly not at my age. I think for most a development away from hunter-gathering is beneficial.

And what is it that has moved us away - our minds, and mental development is also natural. What natural developments did our minds bring us - skills and invention. As we developed skills we could make products, as our minds developed we could invent products. In my case my skills were teaching - my writing is not a product as it is not saleable, and I live in a society with a sufficiently developed education system that my skills were useful.

But I still needed to eat so I had to sell my teaching skills, and through the money as a means of that trade I was able to buy food and accommodation - and survive. This structure I would describe as natural. In order to survive we need to value various skill sets and the products they produce, and value by money to enable trade is a good way of doing this.

But we have to understand that money to facilitate trade is far different from a system that enables 1%-accumulation.

And another important question, why are the products of my other skill - writing - not valued?

Here is a contention, it is reasonable but I cannot substantiate it. As our minds developed, as we moved away from hunter-gathering, we developed "human spirit" - I contend this is a natural development. What we are experiencing as global rage I further contend is a repression of the human spirit. I would argue that characteristics of this human spirit would be compassion, insight and creativity, but then as promoter of #pathtivism I would say this:-

Using money for trade has enabled us to use our minds to develop and survive with more advanced skill sets than hunter-gathering, but what has happened to the human spirit? I argue that that spirit is now not free, and the lack of freedom of this spirit is the source of the expression of global rage.

In our society we agree to pay for certain skills, in our society we assign value to products, but do we assign value to the products of human spirit? I can attest to that personally in that the products of my human spirit as a writer is not valued. I will discuss this further - later.

But how does 1%-accumulation inhibit the human spirit? First of all they value profit - and only profit, profit that can be accumulated in their offshore accounts. Using my terms although they are not intended to be an exclusive definition, human spirit values compassion, insight and creativity - of which only creativity has products that can be used to enable profits. Profits are enabled through the use of money to purchase products so this is fundamentally materialism - the products, and consumerism - purchasing products with money. It is therefore unlikely that 1%-accumulation is going to promote the human spirit.

So we then have to ask does 1%-accumulation inhibit the human spirit? Can we choose human spirit over the profit arena? And the answer to this is mostly negative. What we have to understand is that 1%-accumulation inhibits human spirit through power and influence? We are not free to choose because indirectly they impose restrictions on human spirit through their power and influence. We are forced to conform to their system of profit-making if we want to survive. If we feel compassion then we care about the suffering of fellow humans, and that suffering is primarily caused because they are unable to make profits for the 1%. They might well have skillsets such as craft-making but as the 1% control distribution it is harder to sell those crafts. Through regulation the 1% will insist that skills are used as part of the corporation structure or strictly-controlled connected companies. And finally perhaps most importantly their influence ensures conformity. Education is typical of this. Education does not work to enable the human spirit, education works to help people find employment - conform to the 1%-system. Compassion might be enabled through doctors, nursing, social work and teaching but that compassion has to be strong in that the rest of education is promoting profits and these compassion jobs don't pay well because although essential for profit-making do not directly increase profits. We are taught to conform to consumerism, not consuming that would be mindful and caring for the planet but consuming that would increase profits - materialism and entertainment (escapism). Based on this I feel justified in claiming that 1%-accumulation restricts the human spirit.

Let me briefly indulge my personal gripe. I consider I am a creative writer - I make no judgements as to quality. But my creative spirit recognises the restrictions of 1%-accumulation, many of my insights are based on a recognition of restrictions of human spirit by this 1%-accumulation, and my compassion calls ultimately for a return of the 1%-profits to benefit humanity. Whilst there are people who can make a living by such writing, they are primarily people who can sell sufficient books to enable 1%-profits. In no way am I being critical of the writers who work within that system of restriction as we all do, but is the commercial value of their work ie based on fame etc that enables the publishing or the sale of the work of art. It is not based on an expression of human spirit. What is often sold as works of art such as commercial books for reading such as escapism and romance, not works of art that deal with the human spirit. This reading is marketed ie conditioned by what the marketers want to sell - it is restricted even though the readers will say they choose.

So if I return to my original contention that we "live in a prison fashioned by the financial system that enables 1%-accumulation", I feel that I have given sufficient justification. Undoubtedly we have gained some freedom from the days of hunter-gathering but with the natural development of mind has come a development of human spirit, 1%-accumulation attempts to imprison that human spirit. Rather than rhetoric this is a reality that we should start to embrace with our spirits, and deal with the imprisonment 1%-accumulation imposes. End the global rage.