I didn’t listen to the entirety of Beyonce’s latest album “Cowboy Carter” but I definitely have listened to “16 Carriages.” In the song, Mrs. Carter takes us on an autobiographical look at her life from her early days of working tirelessly to achieve her dreams of stardom, to now as she works tirelessly to maintain it. But besides her own celebration and acknowledgement of her work, she mentions the importance of legacy and her desire to be remembered. “‘Cause we got something to prove” she sings. An endearing sentiment when you don’t think about it too hard.
The story of capitalism begins during the later Middle Ages in Europe. The Protestant Reformation placed more emphasis on hard work and frugality, assigning moral virtue to class status. An increase in supply of precious metals in the area saw a boom in prices which came to be enjoyed by the capitalists of the time. The cloth industry, unlike others, used accumulated capital to increase productive capacity rather than infrastructure and vanity projects. After the Industrial Revolution, not only did we get a taste of ever expanding growth, but we came to expect it.
A business must constantly offer a growth in value, or die. To achieve this feat, these systems squeeze the life out of everything they touch. Our lands are pillaged and polluted, before moving on to the next valuable resource: us.
In our youth, we are constantly presented with the question: “what do you want to be when you grow up?” For the lucky few who turn out to be prodigies we place them on the highest pedestal for all to aspire to. We look on in wonder at the skill and mastery they show in their field at such a young age. We spend their adolescence priming them for college in the hopes of achieving high paying jobs. With the first thirty years of their lives marked by a marriage, some children, and a thriving career, they could sit back and consider themselves successful. Sure.
But their house could always be bigger. They could fill their new garage with more cars. Better clothes. Grander vacations. All while the global south works endlessly to fuel our insatiable greed for more.
The previous social contract stated that after we’ve paid our dues and contributed to our society, we would be able to retire and spend our last remaining years doing what we pleased. But in the later stages of this capitalist society, we are on the brink of running on fumes. Our resources are dwindling. Corporations are running out of industries to penetrate and innovations to make. Birth rates are tumbling.
So what do we do when more is not an option? Go on of course. Hike up the prices. Reward people’s work with more work until that is all they have. Cut social safety nets that protect them from destitution in case life happens. Hoard employment opportunities and then offer lower salaries to the lucky few so they have no choice but to take it. Make corporate slavery the only option for survival.
In Buddhism, desire is named as the root of all suffering. To desire more is to place yourself on a path of constantly chasing something. In your constant state of restlessness and movement you are always left feeling that what you have is not enough. You become an abyss with an appetite that can never be satiated. Stuck on a planet of finite resources, ultimately destined to starve.
Beyoncé finds herself in the same predicament as many corporate entities. She is the most awarded performer in Grammy history. Aside from film and TV, there is not much ground left for her to break. While she can continue to offer more art for the world to enjoy, that art may be the only area where she can create the innovations she craves. What more is there to prove when you’ve already done so ten times over?
"Only when the last tree has died, the last river been poisoned, and the last fish been caught, will we realize money cannot be eaten."
Cree Proverb
More is not always an option, but evolution is. Evolution is a requirement of all species who seek to maintain a foothold in their ecosystem. But to evolve doesn’t require the consumption of more resources. It requires a capacity for creativity of how to use them. It requires a new way to use and harness information and to maximize what you already have. Everything we, for the most part, have no real interest in doing. So I guess the only option that will soon be available is to starve.
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