Enough

The next entry in our Thursday blog project will have us discussing the one thing we would like to eliminate from the world.  It poses an interesting question, because there are so many things to eliminate.  Mosquitoes come to mind.

When I read the question my first thought was war.  I would want to eliminate war.  But as the week progressed, I began to consider other options.  There is hunger/famine, child abuse, environmental destruction, violence, terrorism and of course mosquitoes.  There are just so many things that are negative.  How could I pick just one?

I thought, fine, I will just stick with my first mind and go with war.  No more war.  But as I thought about it more, a lot of issues in our world are caused by scarcity.  The bulk of the wars fought are over scarce resources.  The whole situation in the middle east is about oil.  The American Revolution was fought over control over the resources and money.  Let's face Mother England wanted to cash in on the resources here in the New World.  Taking the concept a step further, the ability to control scarce resources leads to power.

Hunger and famine, scarcity causes those two things to exist.  Not enough food, means some folks go hungry.

Gang violence is all about controlling scarce resources.  Gang bangers want their piece of the pie, their territory.  They are trying to keep other people from having what is theirs.

If we eliminated scarcity, so that there was enough fuel, food, power, etc. to go around, my theory is that would eliminate war, violence and hunger/famine.  So, if we eliminate scarcity (my one thing to eliminate) we would get the end result of getting rid of a lot of other nasty things.  I like that.  It is like tricking the system.

A world where everyone has enough is somewhat inconceivable.  It is actually the underlying premise of Marxism and Communism.  Everyone has enough and everyone is equal.  You can see how well that has worked out in practice. 

What is enough?  My kids have more toys, gadgets and things than I ever did.  They have attention, love, plenty to eat and a good education.  Still, it isn't enough.  They still fight over the one airplane with Bugs Bunny in it, or the Little People school bus, which we have two of.  There is enough for everyone, but they still want more. 

It is impossible for everyone to have enough.  Hence it is impossible for everyone to get along.  It is part of the human condition to want more.

Want to see what everyone else has to say on the topic?  Check out Froggie, Momarock and Merrylandgirl.