The Coming of Utopia

 Even though this is a blog about prayer, I've gotten bogged down in the topic of money, and I can't seem to get out of it, but I'd like to wrap it up soon.

The society I hope for is one where everyone is guaranteed food, clothing, and shelter, and where work-life balance is properly maintained, without inequality. A society without inequality is one where there are differences in "individuality," but there are no differences that create jealousy, such as "superiority," "higher or lower," or "winner or loser." No matter how materially satisfied we are, if we cannot escape from the habit of fabricating relative standards between people and determining superiority and inferiority, winners and losers will continue to be reproduced forever, and not everyone will be able to be happy. Only a relatively small number of winners will enjoy a sense of happiness, while the majority of losers will be plagued by feelings of inferiority and become unhappy.

If we fall into this trap of relativity, no matter how much the economy develops or how much science and technology advance, not everyone will be able to be happy. Because we can only feel happiness by comparing ourselves to others. Other people's misfortune is a prerequisite for us to feel happy. Only when we see the misfortune of others can we say, "I'm better than them," and feel superior. That is the source of happiness. Oh, what a thing. What if we can't be happy unless others are unhappy? Oh, what a curse!

I think the only thing that can solve this is faith.

Well, before that, we have to survive as living beings. So securing the material conditions for survival as living beings, that is, in the case of humans, securing "food, clothing, and shelter" is a prerequisite. This is not something that faith can directly solve. However, ignoring this will not make everyone happy. And since money is unavoidable in relation to securing material conditions, we are in a quandary right now.

As for securing the material conditions for survival, if the population continues to grow, it is inevitable that the burden on the ecosystem will eventually become too great and it will become unsustainable, so I think there is no other way than to lower the birth rate and reduce the population. This is as we have seen before.

And if the population problem is solved, it will be possible to secure food, clothing, and shelter quantitatively. In fact, even now the world as a whole has enough food, clothing, and shelter. On the one hand, there is a shortage, and it is actually a distribution issue. However, the current situation of sufficiency is the result of an excessive burden on the ecosystem, and the environment and ecosystem are being destroyed at an incredible rate, so it cannot be said to be sustainable if things continue like this. Therefore, population decline is the law of nature.

Here, I would like to think about who works to secure material conditions. Of course, it starts with "everyone." Each and every person engages in productive activities. However, science, technology, and machines appear. Then, what one person was previously only able to produce for one person becomes possible for one person to produce for two, three, and finally ten people. In other words, the progress of science, technology, and machines increases production efficiency. Then, one person can work and nine people can play. Or, by sharing the work, the working hours can be reduced to one tenth. The rest of the time is free time. It should be able to be used for sports, art, recreation, and prayer. Isn't that the best? Is heaven approaching?

But it's not happening at all. Why?

Since the Industrial Revolution, there have been many people who have imagined a utopia where machines replace human labor and humans are freed from physical labor. It is true that simple physical labor has decreased, but working hours have not decreased. On the contrary, work stress has only increased. And now, AI is trying to replace human intellectual labor. Will this free humans from stressful labor and finally bring about a utopia?

It seems unlikely.

What is preventing the arrival of utopia?

I think it is "money" after all. As long as money controls humans, new dissatisfaction will be created to drive humans into new economic activities, and humans are destined to be exploited by money forever. And only money continues to multiply.

Humans are merely a means, a convenient means, for money to continue multiplying itself. And they are used like rags and thrown away when they are no longer useful. The reason humans do not rebel is because they believe in money. Humans do not worship God, that is, not Buddha, but money. They are led to believe that only money can make them happy. And they believe it without question.

And even religion, which is supposed to oppose money, has been ensnared by money. At first, interest was prohibited, but before we knew it, loopholes were made.

With the advancement of science and technology, humans have actually long had the means to satisfy the physical conditions necessary for survival. However, it is necessary to properly manage the population to prevent excessive burden on the ecosystem.

The next step is to break away from measuring one's happiness by relative standards.

And "contentment with few desires."

There was also a person in Christianity who was "content with few desires." Saint San Francisco. But although it is called "poverty," I don't think he is actually "poor." "Poverty" means a state of being in trouble because you don't have enough of what you need. Since he is "satisfied" with just what is necessary to live, I don't think he thinks he is "poor." On the contrary, he should be utmost grateful for God's grace. We greedy people only see this as "poverty."

Isn't it only faith in God and Buddha that can defeat money?