The meaning of life, is the search for truth.
We all embark upon the journey of discovery from the moment of birth, as we age it becomes more and more important, it seems to me, or perhaps we’ve had more time to ask the right questions. In today’s world the question everyone should be asking, is about themselves, as it relates to sustainability. How would we be, if everyone had what we have?
The reality of growth in Africa, for example, is driving an entirely new group of newly minted millionaires. China leads the pack but India’s no slouch, and in far corners of the world there’s new growth.
Consider the new opportunity, especially where China Belt and Road initiative opened up economic engines for growth, these areas are generating new wealth, in nations that had been poor for centuries.
Now it’s Africa’s turn to prosper, for the next hundred years that where the biggest cities in the world will grow, according to experts.
Going back to the truth query
Is it going to be sustainable for everyone to have a house and a car, go to college abroad and live like the lifestyles of today’s role models? Is this how all 7 billion of us are going to roll?
Herein lies the rub; to have social equality and sustain the levels of projected consumption, depletion of resources, and production of plastic waste etc… to destroy the planet. Not to mention the sheer exhaustion of once great tourist destinations, all from over-use and endless consumption.
Meanwhile the rich get richer by exploiting the bread and circus society of modern day and repackaging everything for massive new markets of buyers, who will follow in the footsteps of North America from the 60’s onward, we became super-consumers, now others are following.
Capitalism and democracy are the truthful answers to mans plight, however the paradigm must shift, so business models share the growth in a much more “pay-it-forward” philosophy. The shift has started to happen, the business models have begun to emerge, many having been incubated in the melee of blockchain ICO start-up and other awesome experiments in d-centralized, encrypted and secure ledger ideas but no paradigm shift yet.
The two entrepreneurs that used a cheap bracelet to launch an ocean clean-up company that has grown into a global enterprise is just one example but there are many and some are happening in places you’d least expect it, for example in Harley Davidson when the employees became partners, this evolution of sound business practice of sharing the fruits with the people who help create it, is what is catching the attention of others.
I highly recommend a resource for business model strategy called FourWeekMBA.com this is the most interesting source of business model strategy and a tremendous place to learn about great companies are created and how they can be a good when they’re in service of other people, or designed to make something better.
In my own search for truth I recognize that the things I thought I wanted, don’t seems so appealing to me, when I consider if that was the change I wanted to see other people make, in other words to scale down on material things, pursuit the spiritual, self-improve and give back in some way.
Greta Thunberg of Fridays for Future is correct about one thing, each one of us must be come aware of our own carbon footprints, and plastic production, fuel consumption and every other style of consumption. We all have to downsize our wants and desires, to make sure earth can sustain.
The world is so incredible and nature amazing powerful, those are the things that we need to consider and align with. I am trying too, thanks for not being too annoyed by my hypocrisy, that’s something I’m also attempting to reduce. All in the search of truth.
Photo credit: IncrediblyNuming on Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-SA
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