Meconomics: Can you Buy Happiness?

This post is a continuation to:

Meconomics: I need my Wants and Want my Needs to be Satisfied
Meconomics: Wants and Needs in your Daily Living 
Meconomics: Do you Spend your Money Objectively or Subjectively?
 


I ended off my previous post with the following:

“So – we have looked at how wants can in a moment override a need – where we identified subjective experiences and time as important players – but we can look a bit further and ask: why does it sometimes feel like we ‘NEEEED’ the things that we ACTUALLY don’t need. Objectively speaking – they are wants, things you can go without – and yet, you can experience a sense of ‘urgency’ and ‘must have’ and ‘I need it’ towards that which you want. Now wants really start messing with your sense of priority, lol. It’s one thing to be clear on the fact that what you are enticed by in a moment is not something you truly need, but you want to indulge yourself anyway – it’s another to feel like you actually NEED it when you don’t.”

Let’s do an exercise: search for one of those moments in your memory – a moment where: you felt that you absolutely NEEDED to have something, where, if you look back at it now, you didn’t ACTUALLY really need it, but you wanted it so bad that it FELT like you needed it. Now zoom in to the actual experience of need and ask yourself the following: were you experiencing physical discomfort? Were you deprived of something on a physical level, which needed replenishing to ensure you remain functional in your body? Were you in physical danger?

You’ll see that the answers to those questions are ‘no’ – because the apparent ‘need’ was not experienced on a physical level – it was instead experienced on an ENERGETIC/ EMOTIONAL level – where we feel we are being emotionally tortured so long as we don’t go and buy whatever it is we’ve now fixated on wanting to get. If those are not actual, physical, genuine needs, then what are they?

Here we need to actually look at different types of wants or desires. And more specifically – how realistic our expectations are of fulfilling these wants and desires. See – you can want to have a cup of coffee, because you expect that for a moment you’ll really enjoy drinking that coffee and it might assist you being more focused and awake for a short period of time – and when actually having that coffee – that’s exactly what you’re experiencing and what happens. That would be a want with realistic expectations. A want with unrealistic expectations, would be for instance if you want to buy the newest smart-phone because you think your friends will accept you if you keep up with the latest tech trends. What you actually want here, or expect to gain – is acceptance – that is the underlying want you are looking to fulfil. Now smartphones can increasingly do very impressive stuff – but giving you acceptance in yourself and your life is a huge and unrealistic responsibility to place on any phone. Realistic expectations of fulfilling a want stand in direct relation to the actual properties and functions of your want. If you like the taste of coffee, then you will enjoy drinking that cup of coffee and coffee has the characteristic and property of keeping you awake and more focused for a little while – those expectations stand in direct relation to your want, which is coffee. Acceptance however, is not directly related to a smartphone – it’s not within its power to give that to you. When you buy a smartphone, what you will get is a smartphone – acceptance is not part of the package.

It is when we have such unrealistic expectations of fulfilling a particular want – that the experience of ‘want’ can be experienced as a ‘need’ or a ‘must have’. And this is known by the marketing industry and is deliberately used within advertising strategies. I watched a series the other day where one of the characters, who was a car salesman said: “I don’t sell cars, I sell freedom”. As an exercise for yourself, you can look at advertisement and try to see what unrealistic expectation they are trying to create within their viewers – and as a fun challenge within that: try to see how many products apparently will give you passionate sex, lol – advertisements of all kinds of products, from soft drinks, to cars, to perfumes – implicitly play on the desire and urge for sex to sell their products for them. 

So what is it about those wants where we have unrealistic expectations, that we would experience them as a ‘need’?

I’ll continue exploring this topic in my next post.

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Meconomics: Wants and Needs in your Daily Living

This blogpost is a continuous to:

Meconomics: I need my Wants and Want my Needs to be Satisfied

To gain context on 'Meconomics', read and watch:

"Meconomics": ME-Economics
[83] Introducing Meconomics

In my previous blog I wrote about the word ‘wants’ and the word ‘needs’ and how, in economic theory, the two words started merging together into ‘wants&needs’ – treating both words as though they have the same properties and characteristics – as well as how this new merged term was then used as a justification for ineffective distribution processes in our capitalistic economic model wherein some people’s needs are not being satisfied, whereas others can satisfy virtually all their wants and desires.

In this post we’re going to apply the principle ‘as above, so below’ – keeping in mind that the economic model is a human creation – built in the image and likeness of its creator – it is worthwhile finding out where within ourselves we confuse the terms ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ in our daily living.

Have you ever been in a situation where, you realize you need to pay a water or electricity bill, but realize you’re out of funds, because you bought something in the last few weeks that you really wanted, and kind of forgot to keep money aside for these essential expenses?

Or have you ever been in a situation where you learned about a new product or gadget, like a new playstation, iphone, cooking utensil – you name it – where you just couldn’t get it out of your mind and felt you ‘had to get it’ and would feel kind of restless until the moment you bought it?

Or have you ever postponed studying for an exam, and a few days before the exam date, suddenly realized you spent most of your time on entertainment, going out with friends, watching movies or partying?

How does that happen? How come we don’t prioritize our needs over our wants?

That is actually something you can answer for yourself, have a look:

How often do you get excited over the idea that you will continue to have electricity in your house?
How often are you exhilarated by merely thinking about eating your sandwich in the cafeteria during your lunch break?
How many of your days are filled thinking about the new plain dark blue socks you’re going to buy because most of your current ones are worn out – where you enter a daydream and feel so absolutely excited and fulfilled imagining buying those new socks?

For most of us – that doesn’t really happen. For most of us – our needs are ‘boring’. Fulfilling our needs forms part of the basic support that we have and give ourselves, but they don’t give us a ‘thrill’, they don’t make us ‘ecstatic’, they don’t even get us excited. A need is not something you ‘feel’ on an energetic level – they don’t make themselves known through a rush. Rather – a need will make itself known through physical discomfort: hunger shows you a need for food, painful feet shows you a need for new shoes, the discomfort of taking showers in ice cold water shows us the need to pay our electricity bill. Needs make themselves known through ‘negative’ physical experiences.

Most of the time, we don’t feel needs or are even aware of our needs, it is only when we lack our basic needs that we suddenly start being affected by them, first on a physical level – and if we see we can’t satisfy our needs, we’ll go into anxiety, stress and survival-mode. But when our needs are being met – they are ‘silent’ and go unnoticed, we feel they don’t really ‘add’ anything to our lives, because we have taken them for granted as just being a part of our daily living.

Desires on the other hand – do give us an energetic thrill or rush. We feel better thinking about our desires and fulfilling/satisfying them, we look forward to fulfilling them, they occupy our minds and lead us to daydreaming, they make us feel hopeful that we/our lives will be better once we satisfy them.

I’ll continue opening up this point in my next post – stay tuned…

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Day 258: Will Implementation of LIG put more Stress on the Ecosystem by Creating more Consumers?

Q: "When LIG is implemented and people, who were mostly outcasts, become able to fully participate in the system we can probably expect a huge increase in consumption putting more stress on the already suffering ecosystem of the planet. How can we deal with this effectively"




A: "This is why other structural changes form part of the LIG proposal.

1. That before a product is produced, market research must be done that establishes a genuine demand for such a product as the mentality is followed that when a product is produced, we can create the demand for it through advertising.

2. Advertisement should stand in relation to informing potential consumers about what the product is, how long it will last, what the materials used are, how the price is determined - appealing to a person's rational choice making capabilities, without using manipulation and persuasion tactics that appeal and attempt to influence a person's emotional state of mind.

3. Durable products (eg: something that you use several times, like a vacuum cleaner or a bed, a car, etc) require to be approved by the bureau of standards where they have to be able to show that they have made the product to last for as long as reasonably possible.


The purpose of all these measures is to counter the trend of living beyond our means - where we have been depleting the Earth's resources faster than we can replenish it through producing and selling goods that no one truly needs or wants, but are sold through manipulative means of convincing the consumer that they DO want and need this good, and through producing inferior goods that were made to break. So, LIG intends to align our ECOnomic system to our ECOlogical reality - which is an absolute must if we intend our children to inherit an Earth that is not damaged beyond repair. We are the custodians of Earth - whether this position is rightful or unrightfully claimed is beyond our time - we have placed ourselves as humanity in the position where we are the only ones who can make a change to the health of the planet we inhabit - and thus we have a responsibility to do so."

For more perspective, visit www.livingincome.me !

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Day 238: Advertisement vs Rational Informed Decision-Making

One of the premises of the argument for Capitalism as the most Effective means of distributing goods and resources is that consumers make rational and informed decisions. In such a system, every person's purchasing decision is a vote that is cast - where, the amount of purchases shows what the demand is for a certain product. Spending patterns then are supposed to show what people want and expect to be supplied with. Herein, the logic goes that between two products of the same price but of different quality - consumers will buy the better-quality product and in so-doing, will signal to the market that inferior quality goods are not wanted, according to which the supply then is supposed to adjust.

As such - the economy is supposed to be demand driven - where it is the consumers who vote on what should be done with the resources the Earth provides.

HOWEVER - we have developed a very lucrative business - which is the marketing industry, for which tons of research has been done - actual scientific research - to determine how to convince and persuade people that they want or need something that they actually don't. The advertising factor has reversed the production-relationship from demand-determined to supply-determined. For instance - I don't have cable, so I never watch advertisement. When I buy products, I have to actually test the product and from experience, determine whether the product is effective or not and accordingly, I adjust my spending patterns - so that I spend money on that which is actually supportive and worthwhile. Yesterday I was sitting in a waiting area and there was a TV playing. I saw a bunch of commercials, one of which was about a product that I myself had tested. The product was an 'instant soup' powder and the entire focus of the propaganda was to make the viewer believe that there are actual, real ingredients in this power - as in real vegetables, real meat and what have you. And - if I had been sitting at home, watching this commercial over and over - I have to sadly say that I may have been swayed by the information presented, and that I would have bought the product in the perception that 'there is real food in this powder - it said so on TV'. However, I happened to have tested this product before seeing this commercial and my experience showed that my body reacted adversely to it - in a way that it doesn't react to 'real soup'. Herein showing - that: No - this powder is not equivalent to 'real food'.

See - what advertisement does is brainwash viewers to such an extent that the memory of the picture of the commercial that has been seen over and over - overrides one's own actual physical experience - even to the extent that we don't even pay attention to the actual physical experience - because our memory is already 'telling us' what we are supposed to be believing about the product. Advertisement shapes our opinion of a product to the point where we can't distinguish between what's real and what's make-belief.

Herein - obviously - there is no rational decision-making. I could clearly see that if I were to be exposed to advertisement over and over - I may actually be influenced by it when I go through the shops - even if it is just because of familiarity - feeling like I 'know' this product - just because I've been exposed to the brand-name and logo over and over.

And so - advertisement is the way in which consumers have been robbed of their vote. It doesn't matter whether there is an actual demand for a product. Random products that have no life-supporting value and that have the lifespan of a few weeks, are continuously being produced - and it doesn't matter if there was no market for it - because the demand will simply be CREATED through advertisement. So - what we see today is an economy that is run by suppliers, profit-makers and NOT by consumers. Resources are wasted on the production of crap and consumers by the crap because they are too brainwashed to know better.

As such - we don't live in a capitalistic system in the true sense of the words, and any argument raised raised in the context of capitalistic theory is a scam - because we are not adhering to one of the basic principle of capitalism - which is that every individual needs to have the ability to make rational and informed decisions. As such - this ability requires to be protected if we want to truly live in a system that is sustainable and allocates resources most effectively.

Herein - I would suggest to either abolish advertising entirely - so that consumers are obliged to actually test the product for themselves, and based on real physical observation and experience, can influence the production-side of the market through changing spending patterns - OR - that advertisement becomes purely informative - listing the facts in terms of ingredients/materials utilized and the basic purpose of the product. No smiling people, no bright and colorful sparks, no music, no symbolism, no lies.

This would go a long way in preventing the wastage of resources that would now no longer be able to be used in the production of products that no-one actually wants or needs, relieving much of the pressure we have placed on our environment. Furthermore - together with the implementation of a Living Income Guaranteed - individuals will gain back their freedom - equipped with both money and rational decision-making - individuals will truly be empowered in the ability to determine what is valuable and what is not - and as such, capitalism can in fact be used to enhance and enforce democratic principles through economic means.

Related articles

• Day 227: The Myth of Conscious Buying
• Day 251: Living Income Guaranteed and Market Mechanics

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Day 174: Loyalty to Life in Equal Money Capitalism

Also see the following blogs on more points within EMC:

Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward
Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit
Day 164: Equal Money Capitalism - Preparing the Road for Change
Day 165: Equal Profit Share and Equal Money Capitalism
Day 166: Corporate Social Responsibility in Equal Money Capitalism
Day 167: Harmony and Equilibrium within Equal Money Capitalism
Day 168: The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism
Day 169: Equal Living within Equal Money Capitalism
Day 170: Companies and Industries in EMC
Day 171: LIfe-Force and Expression in Equal Money Capitalism
Day 172: Retirement and Holidays within Equal Money Capitalism
Day 173: Supply, Demand, Business and Scarcity in Equal Money Capitalism

Within the current capitalistic system, customers are rewarded for their loyalty. Everyone knows the mechanism of loyalty points - where, one can receive a card at a particular shop, and with every purchase of a particular amount, loyalty points are 'won', which accumulate on one's shop card. These points can then later be used to, for instance, make purchases within a particular range of products.

What is the problem with loyalty points distributed in this way?

The problem with such systems is that this type of loyalty is loyalty that is bought and it is a form of loyalty that does not follow from or uphold any kind of honorable principle. It is in fact a misuse of the word 'loyalty' - because customers are not really loyal to the shop, or the brand, or the products, but they are loyal to their own self-interest in trying to get the 'best deals'. From the shop's perspective, the 'loyalty' does not stand as a reflection of the quality of their services and products, but is a manipulation technique in order to get customers to 'keep coming back for more', as a means of increasing their profit in the name of their self-interest.

What is the solution to this problem?

Within Equal Money Capitalism, such 'loyalty points' systems will no longer exist. Therefore, instead of manipulating individuals through the misuse of the word 'loyalty', the real meaning of loyalty will step forth - where loyalty means: loyalty to life. For instance, individuals who are consistent, disciplined, dedicated and engaged within acting in a way that supports life - are individuals who show their loyalty to life through their actions. This can be in several ways - for instance, in their application in the workplace or in how they treat their fellow members in their community.

What will the reward be of this solution?

Through removing the manipulation and abuse of the word 'loyalty', we allow true loyalty to develop and be recognized. Within this, one will find that when one's loyalty to life is being recognized by others, it will in turn encourage them to follow in one's footsteps and start developing their own loyalty to life and living this loyalty through their actions and behaviors as well. And thus, one will find there is a real reward within being loyal to life, as one will become someone who leads by example and one will be able to see how others will change thanks to you leading the way. And of course, as more individuals start developing loyalty to Life in acting in a way that supports Life - Life will be supported more and more effectively, which constitutes a reward for everyone - as everyone is Life.

Related articles

• Day 171: Life-Force and Expression in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 173: Supply, Demand, Business and Scarcity in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 172: Retirement and Holidays within Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward
• Day 259: Give Happiness, Get Happiness
• Day 165: Equal Profit Share and Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit
• Day 167: Harmony and Equilibrium within Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 169: Equal Living within Equal Money Capitalism
• The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism

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Day 36: Medication as Happiness - Big Bucks, Big Pharma – Part 2

This is a continuation to: Day 35: Big Buck, Big Pharma

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world which values and honours Profit over Life as Health Care

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world where Health Care and Health Care products are turned into Consumerism Products which Consumers can buy even though they do not actually require the product and whether the product will actually assist and support the person’s body is questionable

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world where pharmaceuticals are presented and advertised as consumer products, as to brainwash any person looking at the advertisement into the belief that they will be better off with having this product/drugs where the drug has no relation whatsoever to the person’s actual wellbeing, but is designed for the sole purpose of generating money

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world system which only  values money, and thus only values human beings in so far that they can be mined for money – where pharmaceuticals/drugs are presented and moved through the consumer arena, where the drugs are “Branded” as to give the particular drug character so the consumer may develop an emotional bond between self and the drug advertised

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world system where health care is really money care – where the point is no longer the efficacy of the drug within assisting and supporting the body, but where the point has been shifted to the relationship one can have with a particular drug/brand where the drug is taken from the starting point of energy and value, where one will take the drug to obtain the energy, value which was associated / attached to the drug through visual media advertisement, where the drug is taken as a form of feeding self with energy instead of using drugs as a practical way to assist and support the body within re-establishing itself within Health

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise, that within pharma advertisement, the actual point as disease/condition is never portrayed – but where with all drugs no matter what their use – the people in the advertisements are portrayed as “Happy” people “Living Life”, where pharma advertisement is thus in fact the advertisement for the Pursuit of Happiness through consumerism as drugs and in no way whatsoever about what is Best for All as taking care of one’s Human Physical Body

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world system as the economic system which only cares about money accumulation – where doctors will prescribe drugs to their consumers – oops, I mean “patients” – which they may not necessarily need as they receive benefits from the company who owns and sells the drug – where many end up suffering needlessly from side effects such as heart attacks and seizures

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to defend the advertisement of drugs through labelling the advertisement as “education” while this is obviously not so within showing Happy People dancing, laughing, playing within the ad – there is no real information provided whatsoever and an incorrect picture has been transferred to the consumer as to what this drugs really does, where it is assumed that this drug is some sort of magic pill which will make you a Happy Person and have a Burdenless Life

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the consumer cycle is constantly being fed and maintained through drug companies producing and releasing ‘new, better versions’ of their drug – while there is actually no improvement whatsoever, where psychological obsolence is used to keep the consumer coming back for more within the Pursuit of Happiness of being and achieving MORE

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that only 14% of all new drugs are deemed to be “likely” better than older drugs which were already out there – which only further indicates that pharmaceuticals and health care in this world are so far separated from one another where they currently have little relation with one another but used as a justification to accumulate more money

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world system where Health Care is not about Care but about Profit, where a single drug will be existent multiple times within different brand names – resulting in huge waste of resources as these different brands spend time and money on marketing THEIR drug as THE drug while all are really the same, and where millions are wasted in creating the best advertisement so the consumer will pick THEIR drug instead of the competitor’s one – while both are the same – which merely indicates that all the points in the world such as poverty, starvation, disease whose existence are justified through referring to “scarcity” is complete bullocks, as millions are going to waste within the Profit Game and Competition which could have been used to actually change this World in a Place which is Best for All as REAL Health Care through funding the establishment of an Equal Money System

I commit myself to the establishment of a world System which honours Life over All, as the only REAL value existent within this world

I commit myself to reveal of how Health Care has been transformed into a Lifestyle industry where drugs are dressed up as consumer products which consumers can buy to have a piece of Happiness within their lives

I commit myself to the end of all brainwashing as advertisement and to the realisation of real education as part of the Basic Education everyone should receive in terms of how the Human Physical Body actually operates so all can Care for one’s Heal in fact

I commit myself to the redefinition of Health Care as actual Care for Humans, Plants, Animals, the Planet as what actually assists and supports the physical within reaching an optimum level of functioning – instead of the mass manipulation into consumerism as which it now exists as for the sake of money as fake value

I commit myself to the re-evaluation of All Drugs to eliminate and clear out all the drugs which are in fact not beneficial to anyone, but only created for the purpose of money accumulation – and within that I commit myself to establishment of a scientific health care community which in fact cares about the physical’s health and will only commit themselves towards drugs as support which will actually assist and support others and one’s own physical bodies

I commit myself to expose the Lie drugs as become as a product of Energy and Experience where drugs is no longer advertised as a way to relieve oneself from a particular ailment/condition/disease – but where the incentive for buying and taking the drug is based on wanting the obtain the energy presented in the Advertisement as ‘Happy people’

I commit myself to expose how doctors within the current world system are not in fact serving their clients within what is best for their health, but only act within what’s best for their wallet

I commit myself to expose the obsolence game being played within the pharmaceutical industry for the sole purpose of getting people hooked so they can keep on buying their drugs without there being and actual change or improvement within the chemical composition of the drug

I commit myself to educate others as myself on the real state of Health Care within this world so those who may hear can wake up and realise that this world is not set up to take care of its people within the principle of what is Best for All – and that change as the Equal Money System ought to be implemented

I commit myself to expose how vast amounts of resources and money are being wasted within the Consumerism Game by people who apparently “Care” about the Health of others, when these resources could have been used more effectively through bringing about ACTUAL change within this world which would have a REAL impact such as the funding of an Equal Money System which will ensure that ALL BEINGs are taken care of

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Day 12: Selling Economic Dreams

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to create dreams in the minds of people through advertisement.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to manipulate people to make decisions about their money through creating the belief that if they save money, they will some day be able to buy all these beautiful shiny things.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that it is abusive to flaunt around with advertisement of luxury goods, jewelry, fast cars, etc. - creating dreams and hopes in people that most will never be able to fulfill.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that such dreams are capable of consuming a person to the point where they will save money that they need to buy food, physically harming themselves in the hope of being able to fulfill their glamorous dream.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that I am creating crime as theft by providing people with the desire to acquire certain goods and items in order to feel fulfiled, in order to feel good enough, in order to feel like they have achieved something - and if they don't have the monetary means to acquire these goods in a 'legal' way - then they will take the illegal route.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that it is utterly abusive to create dreams and desires in people's minds if they have no way of ever attaining and fulfilling these dreams.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to - instead of creating more dreams to fulfil for the rich, allocate more of my time and resources towards the empowerment of the poor through spreading the common sense of an equal money system.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to continuously go about my daily life, 'just doing my job' by creating enticing pictures and tempting ideas without considering any of the repercussions this has on those that will never be able to afford whatever it is that I'm selling.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to base my choices in terms of what I want on pictures from advertisement and the feeling I believe I will derive from becoming the pictures I saw on the TV, on billboards or in magazines.

I commit myself to ending of the abusive creation of dreams.

I commit myself to empower people within the realisation and understanding that nothing outside of self can ever make self better than who they are.

I commit myself to the ending of a competitive market-system where pictures and the dreams they create determine who wins and who loses, and not what product is actually effective, practical and long-lasting.

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