Balance is the Ultimate Truth
Big Questions
What can you do when you’re addicted to work?
Chained to the Desk in a Hybrid World: A Guide to Work-Life Balance by Bryan E. Robinson
Anymore, does slow and steady still win the race? Did it ever?
The Real Rules of Life: Balancing Life’s Terms with Your Own by Ken Druck
Should there be limits on persuasive technologies?
Why did world leaders fail to work together to prevent the spread of Covid-19?
- Will the COVID-19 Pandemic kill the globalization momentum?
Should our biggest problems be solved by the unelected, tax-evading, mega-wealthy 1%, or, our people-powered democracy?
Is our compulsive use of digital devices out of balance?
Life is Like a Pendulum
Life is like a pendulum swinging to the left, and then swinging to the right, and then swinging back again to the left, and so on….. forever seeking the true balance. The world is constantly trying to balance itself both in nature and society. Countries and the people within those countries (haves and have-nots, minorities, poor, marginalized) that have had far less than the United States are hungry to work hard to achieve equivalent power, wealth, and quality-of-life.
That would seem fair if you put yourself in their shoes, but people currently holding the power and money don’t just freely give it away. You have to fight for it, so the process of balancing is rocky, mistakes are made, and the pendulum sometimes swings too far, but over time the balancing will happen and stability is achieved.
When you create something unbalanced, it eventually spins apart.
The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter by Shannon K O’Neil
The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth by Edward O. Wilson
Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz
The world will always be in flux when it is out of balance. When you create something unbalanced, it eventually spins apart. Balance is the ultimate truth and state for world stability and peace, and that knowledge should drive our decisions as a global community. Over time, nationalism must recede and acquiesce to the inevitable globalization and balancing of our planet if we are to
- stop fighting each other all the time, and
- sustain ourselves as a species.
Reversing all the gains of globalization achieved over the last half-century will knock the world out of balance in a destructive way. Our world will be better served by a “re-globalized world order,” where countries balance the benefits of globalization while building sensible independence and resiliency in their respective healthcare, defense, energy, manufacturing, and financial services industries.
It will take capital, patience and a shared vision of a world that is peacefully in balance.
| this extreme | BALANCE | that extreme |
|---|---|---|
| regionalism | balance | globalization |
| keep economy going | balance | transition to renewable energy |
| religion | balance | science |
| safety | profit | |
| left | balance | right |
| technology | balance | humanity |
| citizens' rights | balance | citizens' responsibility |
| individual liberty | balance | common good |
| strong local cultural values | balance | welcoming assimilation of immigrant cultures |
| border security | balance | humanity |
| unlimited extraction | sustainability | protecting earth's finite resources |
| preventing manipulation | persuasion | suppressing dissent |
| socio-economic systems | balance | biophysical earth systems |
| american exceptionalism | balance | cooperation in solidarity for common good |
| citizens' contract with police | balance | police contract with citizens |
| nationalism and isolationism | balance | internationalism and globalization |
| spend money to fight climate change (Biden) | Climate Change | spend money to extract and monetize climate change (Trump) |
| panic | coronavirus | proactive |
| ayn rand capitalism | balance | the common good |
| catastrophizing | balance | glass half-full |
| risk | balance | reward |
| freedom (of speech) | democracy | accountability (civility) |
| sustainability | between a rock and a hard spot | production |
| do unto others | golden rule | others do unto you |
| wants | government | needs |
| buy-america jobs | balance | lowest cost infrastructure |
| help the helpless | balance | spend within means |
| finite resources on earth | balance | growth to create jobs |
| free trade | balance | climate policy |
| left trying to survive | balance | right protecting wealth |
| concentration of wealth | balance | redistribution of wealth |
| United States | Mutually-Assured Destruction | Russia |
| work | balance | life |
| being inside | balance | being outside |
sp
also
Big Picture / Human Society / Politics & Government / Peace / Balance
- get it done: Perfect is the enemy of the good.
- Intersections (sp)
- Simple by Siegel
- Walden by Thoreau
- If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
- imperfectness: wabi-sabi
- less is more:
- subtract:
- live within your means
- tiny houses: Elevate
- work-life balance: Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
Digital Devices
- Digital Minimalism Newport
- digital saturation: Digital Detox
Power Sharing and Cooperation for the Common Good
- balance vs extremes: Faces of Moderation by Craiutu
- common good: The Pandemic that Changed the World
- Freedom‘s just another word for nothing left to lose… Joplin
- power: Winners Take All by Giridharadas
- truth: Balance, the fundamental verity by Smith
Simplicity and Wellness
Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism by Aja Barber
