Relativity is an interesting concept to ponder. Nearly every person's predicament on the planet today is far better than the predicaments of those 5000 years ago and yet we continue to see the woes of others when compared with ourselves. What exactly is the goal? When will we find that things are good enough? Nearly every human has it better than the animals of the wild, so from a moral standpoint, what is our ground for complaint? I have running water. Some people do not. I have access to computers while many others do not. Is this unfair? Does it matter? Is it something to rectify? Or is it something to accept? While I may have running water and computers, I still lack a second home, a private jet, and many things that yet others have. It has always been this way where some lack what others have. At what point is it a cause to take up arms and fight for?
I live in a rather unique country. I personally feel as if there is support to help anyone get on their feet and to be as successful as their mind can take them. Of course, how a mind matures is highly dependent on genes and culture. So is it truly fair to let the mind be the fulcrum by which we reach our heights? A great deal of success is also likely just luck which is quite similar to the conditions in which we are born: race, gender, country. Given the constraints of wherever it is and however it is we are born, we can be more successful than those around us if our ambition and minds so allow it. I may never be able to top Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, or Jeff Bezos, but I might very well do better than my neighbors and family. For someone born in the slums of India, it is even less likely that they'll compete with the 1% of America, but they might still compete with those nearest them. With enough ingenuity, perhaps they can have a shelter that blocks more rain, withstands more wind, and so on. Things that I take for granted might be the very things that sets one of them apart that brings them joy and satisfaction that even I may not have yet experienced.
Even though I may never be a billionaire, the privileges, comforts, and healthcare that I do possess is already a thousand times more than kings of the past. Anyone with running water is already surpassing our ancient ancestors. So by what means should we judge conditions? What should we fight for when it comes to fairness? I'm not sure this question has a great answer. It seems a lot like we ought to mind our own business and simply work with what we've got to get ahead. Despite growing up in the same area as others, I might be blessed with a mind that enables me to be more successful. Of course, I did not choose my own mind any more than anyone else. Then again, if we chose our minds, by what means could we even make such a choice unless our minds were first available? This relativity brings me right back to the same idea: things simply will be what they are.
And this is a frightening thought. If this is true, it almost seems like things aren't worth fighting for. It seems like we ought to be every man for himself. And this would make for a terrible outcome. People absolutely must care and have the thoughts of others in their minds lest the world devolve into chaos which is good for no one. It does make me think, however, that perhaps we should focus more locally. Instead of the grand scheme of things, unless it is our responsibility to run a state or country, perhaps we should simply be the best we can be in our own neighborhoods under whatever conditions the world throws at us. Gain local support and renown. Attend to the injustices we see around us rather than even attempting to contemplate the entire world.
But what of areas that are run-down and are in need of external support? Or should we care? Surely some location is the worst on the planet, but every other one is doing better than another. And most, still, are doing better than those in the past. It is truly relative. Perhaps we ought to let them simply sort it out themselves if it is not our local neighborhood? And if we truly care, maybe it's best to simply make it our neighborhood? After all, who better than those from within to correct it? It's far too complicated to know the next step of a population that is so many steps below you. It is far easier to see the next step when you're beside it. Maybe we ought to simply join the causes directly or else be quiet about them?
It all seems rather calloused to simply let others work it out themselves, yet at the same time the relativity of the situations allows for peace and joy that we might not think possible even in dire conditions. Sure, a group may lack Facebook and YouTube, but they might very well enjoy their non-tech lives. This relativity of experience and the culture one derives around it is exactly why some people choose to remain Amish. Had they not been raised Amish, it is quite likely they never would have chosen it. This relativity is a very powerful thing. I simply cannot resolve it in my mind. There are too many twists, turns, and caveats to really determine what the "best" course of action is. In the end, I am one of billions with impractical insight from having lived in my own bubble. What I deem important and right could very well differ from the very ones I may look down upon in sorrow. The Amish lifestyle is no way to live life, but only because I did not grow up within it. Still, it's hard to imagine that they were not simply brainwashed and that this, too, is something to correct. Culture and relativity might very well outweigh my many own perspectives of what is right. If people are happy where they are, who am I to complain? And if they are not, who are others to care? For anyone who might care, I find it intolerable that I do not have riches pouring out my ears, so if anyone would like to correct that, I'd be much obliged. Thanks in advance!
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