Living for Life itself
Last summer I asked my people on social media “what’s the purpose/meaning of life?” Here's my own answer
It should be our responsibility, as the only creatures (to our knowledge) on Earth capable of articulating and recording philosophical thought, along with the ability to act on these ideas, to consciously develop some sort of meaning, some sort of unified direction, some sort of unified purpose for our world and all of its life. For the sake of humankind, all other life, and even our own well-being as individuals, we have an obligation to move beyond the Gods in the pages of our religious and economic texts; we need to worship the magic of Life (or nature?) instead of the supposed magic of markets, consumption, or ancient texts (perhaps more accurately, selective portions of religious texts). Given the elastic nature of “human nature”, its sheer malleability, it’s high time to discuss the need for a new religion, a new philosophy, a new culture rather than mindlessly, aimlessly engage within the current destructive world we’ve made (“we” throughout this piece indeed refers to humankind, though acknowledging class differences within humankind will be vital in understanding where I’m coming from). On behalf of Life, humans must get on the same page in a unified direction and prioritize love - love of Life.
I saw a meme circulating years ago which indicated that “business owners” tended to be right wing politically, while “philosophers” were on the left. The disparaging caption escapes my memory now, but the implicit meaning of the post was to say, “the hard working job creators get it, the lazy eggheads don’t.” That’s right, the endless pursuit of profit is the point of our existence, so even bothering to ask the big important questions is a waste of time. At this point it’s taken as a given in America that “growth”, “profit”, etc. is the answer to the big questions. Sadly, in an individualistic, anti-intellectual country like America, prioritizing life, environment, and human well-being is seen as an impossible utopian pipe dream, but polluting the environment, selling weapons for unnecessary wars, creating addictive unhealthy junk food, or patenting and manufacturing poop emoji hats - crucially, so long as it turns a sizable profit and “grows the economy” - is not only awesome and admirable, but supposedly the best we can do. It’s an inevitability. Not only that, it’s apparently also somehow making everyone’s life better?! What’ll they think of next?!
OK, it might be mega-cringe to actually articulate one’s own “meaning of life” to such an extent, especially given the unlikelihood of many people even clicking on this piece, let alone actually reading the whole thing, I still feel as though American consciousness has missed the boat on updating our purpose and reaching a shared understanding, so I want to get this out of my system (for catharsis alone if nothing else, but please do read on).
So to start, we ought to ask what is The Meaning of Life? What is the purpose, The Point? I would speculate, especially after asking my people on social media, the most common digestible and tangible answers (not something mundane or ambiguous such as “live in the moment” or “live, laugh, love”, but some sort of purpose) one would receive asking this question would involve the continuation of human life OR finding pleasure - indeed, most polling on the matter inevitably lists “family” as the number one meaning of life, and what is “family” if not cherishing the continuation of the species? I will argue throughout this piece that merely finding pleasure doesn’t quite make it, so we instead ought to view The Point as advancing all life (not just human life!), and in so doing the wishes for pleasure and continuation of the species will naturally follow; but let’s first look at how our current iteration of society attempts to answer this big question. (Or, perhaps more accurately, how our current iteration of society legitimizes itself by propagandizing the masses to believe it’s the only way.)
The meaning of life according to the current zeitgeist
Capitalism supposedly has all the answers.
Capitalism is the most influential, pervasive, and expansive idea (religion, economic system, belief system, whatever you want to call it) in human history. It has altered this planet and all life on it certainly more than any other idea, and arguably even more than any material thing or major event that has ever happened (such as the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, the Black Plague, or World War II). It is an idea that by its very nature relies upon the exploitation of the natural world and human labor. Subsequently, to keep this whole thing going, it is necessary to propagandize the public to believe it’s the only game in town, or the “lesser of other evils”. Some even go so far as to regard this system as incredibly epic, even though in reality it is a system that relies on the evils of domination, racism, and prioritizing of profit. Whether you are in the minority of people who are hyper-aware of the perniciousness of the system, or go about life not realizing, maybe even blaming other things for the problems in the world or your daily life, capitalism is undeniably profoundly impacting every single life on this planet.
Predictably, particularly because capitalism serves the most dominant and powerful life form of all time (present-day rich people, people who own everything), it also promises both to be the best way to foster human life (I don’t believe even the most devout capitalist defenders would claim the system fosters Life in general, they admit it’s a system of competition and domination) and also promises to provide the most pleasure. As we’re told, capitalism does this by “lifting all boats” - sure, the richest of the rich are living lavish lifestyles beyond our wildest imaginations, but such wealth will eventually “trickle down” to everyone else.
The inherent promise here is that while Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos own their own space stations, mansions around the world, yachts with helicopter decks, and underground bunkers (just in case these brilliant masters and leaders of the world, uh, ruin it? I guess?) surely even the homeless will someday own their own modest home as long as we continue to allow these Great Brilliant Men to do innovation that will grow the economy. Growing the economy will also be beneficial to everyone by providing endless treats and pleasure for humans because you get to buy the latest iPhone, a new Tesla truck, chill in the Metaverse, and even wear a poop emoji hat while you’re at it! That’s right folks: buy a thing from a corporation, what becomes of the profits will be dictated by that handful of rich people who own everything, which is ok because their sheer brilliance will enable them to make great decisions that add more jobs, and soon, as long as the downtrodden do what the rich guys say and work hard enough, they’ll have a home and decent standard of living too. Capitalism does it all, doesn’t it? It has an answer to every question: to live, laugh, love, you’ve just gotta work, consume, and be grateful for job creators.
We immediately run into a contradiction because endlessly expanding economic growth means using more resources from the planet (mining, drilling for more oil, cutting down more trees, etc.) as well as working our labor force harder and longer - this doesn’t sound like a good time for most of us, or healthy for Life on this planet, but it sure can produce a surplus to buy private space stations for sad rich guys. This is especially the case if the unfathomably lavish lifestyles of the rich are supposed to be upheld (and apparently even increased in lavishness as they show no signs of slowing down). Pay no attention to who gets to control the surplus generated by this arrangement, just keep working hard, buying shit that supposedly provides pleasure, and eventually that homeless guy that made you feel bad on your way to work will get offered a job by some young upstart who sucked up hard enough to an already-rich guy or somehow convinced a bank to loan him money. For either scenario, the only way you’d receive the startup money is if returns were promised - since the poor, the voiceless, and nature itself don’t have any money to spend, it’s safe to doubt the plausibility of any idea beneficial to these marginalized communities gaining the necessary funding from the private capitalist sector within this system. Anyone and anything who doesn’t have money is left completely voiceless under capitalism: it’s why we sooner see Captain Crunch flavored Peeps™ or pumpkin spiced blue cheese Doritos than guaranteed housing for all.
And the growth can also only go so far. We don’t actually need any of these so-called innovations, folks. You don’t need a cell phone. We didn’t need Threads any more than we needed Twitter or Facebook. We don’t need heated car seats (subscription-based or otherwise). We don’t need a new crispy chicken sandwich recipe at Burger King. We sure as hell don’t need NFTs, cryptocurrency, or a god damn “Metaverse”. The reason the advertising industry is so large is because the system relies on perpetual growth, so we have no choice but to bow down to the God that is consumption in order, apparently, to make life better for everyone. Jeff Bezos, using a gigantic chunk of change gifted to him by mommy and daddy, a sum that would take a teacher like me decades to save, convinced us we need to get our online-ordered goodies in 48 hours or whatever. Masses of people bought in to this absurd made-up standard, and he made tons of money (his workers who produced the ambitious, however unnecessary, promise, of course, did not). So with this surplus generated by his labor force (as he himself admits) he decided to go to outer space for no reason. His fellow ghouls used their undeserved surplus to buy Twitter (Musk) and create a virtual space for people to hang out in (Zuckerberg) - who needs reality when you have The Matrix? They didn’t build museums or libraries, they didn’t preserve land, build housing, food banks, or anything of the sort. They bought self-indulgent toys like those in the upper working class, just on a far grander and more asinine scale. This system produces these types of mundane, materialistic dipshits to become our defacto leaders? These are the enlightened, innovative people we’re trusting with our future, destroying the environment and exploiting labor for their own pleasure? Only in an absurd world with absurd priorities could such outcomes materialize. No wonder they spend so much time cultivating their images of supposed genius when genuine morality, integrity, and goodness is simply nowhere to be found within these men.
And does this “economic growth” - at least in its current iteration - even remotely provide actual pleasure or happiness? Think of the things that truly make you happy, content, and alive - whether you’re financially comfortable or poor. Is it really tickling the dopamine scrolling social media, seeing your stocks go up, remodeling the bathroom, playing a game on your phone, or gambling in Vegas? Or is it a party with friends, a holiday event with family, cooking and eating a good meal with a partner, attending a community gathering, walking in the woods, laying on the beach, or playing a sport or game?
As human beings become reduced to consumers and slaves to this economic system, we’re of course instructed by a $700 billion advertising industry that buying things is the ticket to a happier life, so we justify spending more hours working to pay for things (or, for the poor, basic needs to turn someone else a profit) at the expense of quality time. When things lose their novelty (since they’re most certainly not necessities and don’t actually produce happiness or contentment), they’ll come up with more things we supposedly need, and more ridiculous reasons why we supposedly need them (often the “innovations” are “time-savers” to afford us yet more time to work.)
In my experience, I’ve derived most - if not all - of my happiness from eating dinner with my family, going to a see a local band with many neighbors in my community, going white water rafting with friends, helping a student with a problem they’re having (whether academic or a life issue), or enjoying nature in solitude. My happiest days were my wedding day and the day my son was born, and needless to say, it had nothing to do with money. Other happy, memorable days I simply remember all of the love I could feel from the people or natural beauty around me. These examples cost nothing and thereby receive limited attention in a media apparatus dominated by advertising (and thereby consumption as well). How lucky are we that the things that make us happiest are also the least expensive and best in cooperating with other life!
The Imperative and the Death Spiral
“We’re all connected” isn’t just something to ponder half-baked sitting around with friends after taking an edible. The reason we don’t find Life on any other planet is because the conditions on these other planets cannot harbor Life as we know it. It’s either too hot, too cold, not enough water, whatever. In Kim Stanley Robinson’s book Aurora, a group of futuristic humans leave an ailing Earth to go find another planet to inhabit only to realize the distant world is unsuitable for humans because microscopic life poses too big of a health issue for humans to coexist. The same cautionary tale of course can be applied to the presently impossible notion that humans can simply relocate to Mars (an admission by capitalists like Elon Musk that the planet may become uninhabitable sooner than the millions of years it would take for the sun to consume the planet, sadly they would never admit it’s their own decadence and undeserving indulgence putting us into a Death Spiral toward this outcome). We know with certainty that this planet can reach an equilibrium that harbors Life as much as possible, and we humans are intelligent enough to try our best to maintain such harmony - but only if we choose to do so. Since this planet is the only place to live, we (especially the richest and most powerful among us) need to choose to love life rather than profit.
Instead, we are engaged in this Death Spiral. A Death Spiral is anything that runs antithetical to The Imperative, which ought to be thought of as cooperation in the name of sustaining life. Imperialism, for example, is a Death Spiral because it is built on expansive domination instead of cooperation. Nationalism, racial supremacy, any sort of hate is a Death Spiral because it is built on (at most charitable) marginalizing and at worst eradicating other life forms, and is also used as justification for imperialism (if you hear someone defending the need for a gigantic army and stockpile of weapons on the grounds that “oh those so-and-sos will kill as all otherwise” you can begin to understand what I mean). Using Round-Up to keep what the Lowe’s commercial said was some kind of epic, immaculate lawn as the chemicals seep into our water supply or kill other life thereby disrupting the ecosystem is a Death Spiral. As the most influential and dominant living being on the planet, we should feel an obligation to think incredibly hard before ever doing massive harm to other living things. Shouldn’t the choice between epic green lawns or not tainting our water supply be pretty clear? Perhaps we should start to accurately view ourselves as the invasive species and scale down our sheer domination over all else. If we’re engaged in activity that is negatively impacting Life on an unsustainable, destructive scale, we need to end or change those activities immediately no matter what they are or how much some of us think we love them.
The meaning of life is life, and that means all life - dare I say it? - All life matters! If life needs to be sacrificed, it ought to be taken thoughtfully, humanely, respectfully, and based in evidence and for the greater good; furthermore, if a life needs to be taken, for example an animal that a human eats, it ought to live its life in dignity, die humanely, and its remains used as much as possible (this is not a new idea, just ask Native Americans or indigenous people who correctly try to maintain peace and harmony with nature as perhaps their greatest concern). Any deviations from this ought to be the focus of our innovation - we should figure out how to make things more sustainable, humane, be grateful, and acknowledge our own position rather than remain mindlessly dominant over all other life simply for the sake of a surplus profit controlled by a handful of people (don’t get any ideas, right wing bros, this is the definition of the system). We ought to be more like my mom, an organic flower farmer, than your crotchety neighbor dealing his own small blows to Mother Nature just to end up with an asinine, unnatural green carpet for a lawn.
How much would we appreciate it if an octopus began manufacturing synthetic hot pink camo cargo jorts for its 8 extremities if such an act meant human beings had to die? The octopus wouldn’t do that to us, so why not be more like the octopus? It’s as though our idea of “intelligence” can actually be quite destructive if left unchecked and mindlessly run amok, propelling us to this state of ignorant cruise control toward Death Spiral. It’s almost like thoughtfulness, harmony, and decency ought to play a role - a more significant role than domination - after all.
Of course in order to be more like the octopus we’d have to confront our myths of growth as well as our myths regarding nationalism, dominance, and individualism. The moment we introduced private property, private means of production leading to almighty profit, we entered a Death Spiral, because it meant using weapons to keep other people away rather than cooperating, it meant hoarding rather than sharing, it meant creating divisive myths articulating our group’s justification in doing this rather than working together. The natural progression of using weapons against one another, rather than figuring out how to coexist and cherish Life, is a weapon like a nuclear bomb, a weapon so powerful it could wipe out potentially all life in the known-Universe. Our so-called leaders inch closer and closer to this, in large part due to the insane quest of imposing the religions of the day (capitalism, “democracy”, liberalism) onto everyone else, not to mention the racism it takes in always assuming the worst of The Other. This example (along with the disregard of fossil fuel emissions) is obviously the ultimate and most concerning example of Death Spiral.
I had always suspected, but since becoming a parent I have become certain, that caring for our children must become of the highest priority - our youth are our most vulnerable and precious forms of human life, after all. America, the most powerful country in the world, simply does not care for children the way it could/should. Parents don’t get paid leave. New mothers are guaranteed a pile of medical debt to take home with their new baby. Children go to under-funded schools at the crack of dawn before their brains are even fully capable of learning just so their parents can get to work on time. While we funnel ungodly amounts of money into war, corporate subsidies/bailouts, and tax breaks, our kids receive sub-par meals just because some “food” production company won a government contract (a lot to be desired, but it’s better than nothing - yet it’s illegal in our system to give any of this uneaten food to someone in need because some capitalist needs people coerced into working for them). After K-12, they enter a workforce that either tells them they’re “not skilled” if they don’t have a college education, or to go spend an absurd amount of money to gain skills just to enter adulthood where they get to pay some investor absentee landlord half their income every month as the bank denies them housing loans (or they get outbid by an investor). There is absolutely nothing more important than our youth if Life and the continuation of our species through cooperation is indeed The Imperative, and yet look at the horrific state of affairs we’ve set up for these precious young people, shoving them to the margins (because they don’t have money to spend!) as profit remains the priority. Everything we do we ought to do for children. Parent better for the children, organize society around enabling parents to parent better for our children, demand that harboring Life itself be our focal point for the children.
We need to become aware of our unconscious obedience, if not worship, of this suicidal system and its horrifying hidden outcomes and find a new path once and for all.
Conclusion: A New Collective Understanding
Admittedly, my combatting some of these myths may just ultimately be the telling of a new myth. But what’s the harm in replacing the myth of unsustainable, endless growth with advancing Life instead? If it’s wrong, outline a better myth to become our focal point, and explain the plan’s logical outcome and why it’s sensible. If we truly relentlessly pursued the cradling of life, our species would flourish along with other life forms, we’d derive a more natural, human meaning out of life which would cause us to be happier and more content.
And to be fair, perhaps this whole thing is merely justifying my own existence. I am just a local guy, I am a simple family man who values friends, community, playing in a local band, and in local sports leagues, teaching in another wonderful little community a few towns over. If so, then feel free to simply read portions of this as a self-help guide because I am a pretty happy, content guy who maintains a small carbon footprint and doesn’t harm anyone or anything, whether directly or indirectly (for example owning stock in Lockheed Martin - dare to dump it so you’re not complicit in the Death Spiral). You could do a lot worse than how I’m living - despite being, by society's standards, a modest (if not lowly) teacher. Ultimately, I can live in peace even knowing what I know and believing what I believe because my life for the most part vibes with The Imperative of fostering Life.
I am under no delusions that writing something like this will truly change the world (also under no delusions anyone is even still reading - though people should be), but nevertheless I maintain if people start living by some of these ideas, and taking them into account when choosing an occupation, making an investment, starting a family, pursuing hobbies, etc. it would make humans and this planet alike ultimately better. Obviously, the real trick would be somehow changing the minds of the rich and powerful who dictate what happens in this world, or taking control by force (obviously scores of problems with this unlikely scenario). But for now, this (among other projects) is all little old me can really offer.
Imagine taking the human labor and time spent at “bullshit jobs” (anthropologist David Graeber who investigated the phenomenon estimated perhaps as many as 50% of jobs were essentially pointless!) and training those people for professions we actually need like farmers, nurses, doctors, social workers, trade workers, builders, sanitation workers, teachers, etc. No more 80-hour work weeks, medical professionals! All we have to do is get more people to work fewer hours at necessary occupations. How insane is our society that a corporate lawyer defending some company’s “right” to pollute, alienate, or exploit is compensated so much higher than an ed tech III working with students with trauma, poverty, and neglect? Or the local pre-K school having to beg for a car dealer’s generous donation just to stay afloat? Look around at the world through this lens and dare to let yourself be horrified and disgusted, dare to let it motivate you to do your small part in changing the world for the better.
To spell out the point I am getting at, pleasure can be derived pretty simply and affordably (of course we’ve got to do better meeting everyone’s basic needs), but cannot logically be thought of as The Imperative. Pleasure alone could be mistaken as an answer to the “purpose of life” question, but I would argue we must agree that such pleasure cannot interfere with Life, or put someone else in an undesirable situation. As long as the thing you’re deriving pleasure from is at peace with Life, and not harming anyone or anything, have at it. If your idea of pleasure is taking a trip to space for no reason, or joyriding a private jet to 10 different locations around the globe in a week’s time, you’re an inconsiderate ignoramus who is doing irrational things at everyone else’s expense. On a smaller scale, you’re still on the wrong path if you’re invested in a harmful, yet lucrative, corporation just to get a big return and buy a speedboat. If you are deriving pleasure by being with your family, friends, or community, camping, having sex, cooking, creating art, or simply by yourself in nature in a sustainable manner body surfing, going on a hike, you’re at peace and harmony with the world. You’re doing yourself and Life itself a favor engaging in such activities, by obtaining pleasure without exploitation and domination.
Furthermore, prioritizing the pursuit of pleasure has other problems. It brings me great pleasure to eat pizza, poutine, and fried chicken. Eating this and other foods like it would bring me pleasure every single day, but I don’t do that because it’s ultimately bad for me (and what’s bad for me is bad for my immediate family, friends, and I’d like to think others in my extended communities of people who care about me as well). Advertising, of course, doesn’t want us thinking about this reality, but it’s the truth. Pain, conversely, actually has lots of positive features. Pain can tell us when we need medical treatment, when we need emotional support, when we need to eat. The pursuit of pleasure as The Imperative runs the risk of creating a culture that avoids pain - for example dulling pain with alcohol abuse or hard drugs, or putting undue stock in pleasurable activities that might be unhealthy, or doing some type harm. Pain, when dealt with appropriately, is actually quite a positive feature of humanness, rendering “the pursuit of pleasure/happiness” an incomplete if not irrational view of The Point. The Golden Rule, when actually applied without the “well it’s complicated” excuses, is still a righteous, however radical, principle to live by.
The further along we go with our current experiment, the further we become detached from reality. The more we become detached from reality the more problems become compounded and unfixed; and the more we continue to pretend like we’re solving every problem through growth and expansion, the worse things get. The worse things get the more our “leadership” class remains in denial and invents new myths to be peddled by their massive media resources to propagandize the masses (are they sinister or ignorant?) We need to rework our relationship with nature and ourselves. We need to reject consumerist culture and the destructive and expansive reality of capitalism - we need to understand the nature of capitalism is not the nature of Nature. We need to understand that maybe it’s not worth buying the thing if it means increased pollution, a forest getting destroyed, a miner in a third world country being exploited - even more importantly, lawmakers and the rich/powerful need to understand this since they’re the ones calling the shots. Doing such a thing will require a new idea to takes its place: we’re lucky enough to have a big, beautiful, wondrous world with so many delightful human beings and incredible forms of life to behold, cherish, and fill that void.
Whether life is a gift, an accident, or the most insanely improbable anomaly, what other purpose could possibly be as important as its continuation? We have the scientific knowledge, the resources on this gigantic gorgeous planet, and, I have to believe deep down, the love that it takes to meaningfully change our direction as a species. We just need to all collectively care a bit more, value the human you don’t know, the life you may not encounter. We need a new direction, new leadership, a new understanding, a new deeper way of thinking. Let Life be The Imperative, the motivator, the New God to lead us forward.
There’s no other place for human beings to go. This obvious fact is, sadly, a revolutionary thing to state, increasingly revolutionary to truly mean and live by. I can imagine the logic bro right wing crowd saying “yeah obviously”, yet refuse to go on to think deeply about the implication of this basic truth. We need to be able to adapt to changes as described in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower with the understanding that every decision we make and unexpected change we respond to holds The Imperative as preservation of Life rather than pursuit of profit. Every other known planet is a barren floating rock. I am sure there are beautiful landscapes beyond our imagination out there (we’ve got plenty of those here as well), but we know with certainty Earth is home to millions of unique species of life, billions of delightful personalities, which no other known-planet can boast. This world harbors divinity and wonder that should leave a legitimately intelligent species humbled and inspired to preserve and continue at any cost - fortunately for us, paying that cost could very well ultimately make for a more enjoyable individual existence and purpose as well.
Obvious as some of this may be to say, it’s long overdue to collectively halt the Death Spiral, reframe The Imperative, and start acting it out in our precious lives for the sake of our own and Life itself.
