A famous (or rather, infamous) motto from one of the most powerful and influential companies of the modern world is to “move fast and break things.” This says a lot about the kind of culture we have learned to embrace. The near-cultish acceptance of such a belief system simply is incompatible with the make up of our species and the planet’s ecosystem. What is says, in the name of progress and wealth creation, is that we should throw away all traditions and culture — namely, destroying much of the hard-earned knowledge and meaningfulness that took many centuries for mankind to develop. It also disrespects the way of nature and its limited resources, of the way of life of indigenous peoples, of religion and of humanity as a whole. Not only is this incredibly toxic and immoral, it’s downright dangerous. This is how we have end up with so much monoculture, now commonly applied to to everything from agriculture to the arts. It’s why we have a plethora of disposable and garbage products polluting our world today.
Furthermore, it also doesn’t take long, once such beliefs are firmly adapted, for most things to lose their diversity and uniqueness; everything begins to look the same, sound the same, taste the same, and feel the same. We don’t have to look very hard to see this is true. Just think of the packaged food at our grocery stores; is this what we call real food? Or what about the endless reboots/remakes of movies and tv shows; is this the limit of our creativity? And because all this is designed to operate at breakneck speed and, aided by the power of propaganda, humanity doesn’t get the chance to question, contemplate or possibly reject this way of living. This is the powerful financialized machine we are contending with. This horrifyling imposition has all been thrust upon us without say or approval. And worst of all it disregards consequences. Biological warfare, nuclear weapons, neoliberalism (financial deregulation), social media and now Artificial Intelligence; the common man never asked for any of these things.
“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism.” — Mark Fisher, Writer
A reversal.
Because this is so unhealthy on so many levels, I prefer to adopt the exact opposite motto: “Move slowly and make things.” Why does this work? Well, for one it’s simple so it’s easy to remember. And two, it’s innately human. What has stood the test of time is that things that take time to make tend to provide the greatest value and meaning. This is true whether applied to the individual or to society as a whole. Think of that teacher or relative who generously assisted your becoming, lending you her tireless love and support. Think of all the wonderful scientific inventions and amazing artistic masterpieces that have enlivened our world like the contribution of AC electric power by Nikolai Tesla (who never profitted from it) or the magnificent sculpture of David by Michelangelo (which continues to inspire beauty and wonder to any viewer who stands before it). These great things were not rushed forward but took deep contemplation and years of dedicated passion to make happen.
Applying it on a personal level.
First, stop rushing. Stop aiming to get here or there to achieve any particular thing by some sort of pre-determined time line. It doesn’t work (and it’ll make you sick and miserable). Yes, this maybe how corporations works and how quick wealth might be generated but it doesn’t last. Many people don’t realize that only about 10% of the stock market’s original S&P 500 companies since WWII are still in existence today. That’s not much time, not even a generation. Our lives are shorter than you can imagine. Do you want to spend all of your life — your limited time and energy — on things only to serve a temporary utility? Much of what we do already, just to survive, is often both repetitively shallow and futile. Of the few conscious hours that we might call our own, we must be reminded that they are very precious.
O Me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
— Walt Whitman, Poet