Absorbing the Masses

I had a dream last night, one that I actually remembered a bit about. I woke up from it at around 4 am and felt the need to jot it down, though I didn't, but it left me with a feeling of metaphor for the reality in which we live.

The dream itself was some absurdly surrealist science fiction nonsensical premise where people could absorb other people to become stronger. For those of you who watched Dragon Ball Z, think the android saga. For those of you familiar with the Highlander series or movies, think that only instead of killing another person, they get absorbed instead. For those of you unfamiliar with either, think billionaires with money.

And that is precisely what it reminded me of. At any given point in time, there is a finite amount of wealth - I dare not say money in this situation because the wealth of a billionaire is not contained in money, but rather an arbitrary value placed on an imaginary value of something else - stocks, crypto, etc.

And these billionaires are absorbing all that wealth up like there can only be one, and with that all the power one can possibly imagine. A billionaire can buy the company that makes the election machines, and own the company in which all the data collected by those election machines transmits the data, and the company in which does all the maintenance on those election machines. They own the election at that point in time. Then the person who is going to benefit them the most gets elected. Imagine that.

Meanwhile, because all that wealth has been siphoned from the rest of the economy, the homeless rate is getting exponentially higher. Bankruptcy is at an all time high. Housing, for the average American, is impossible to afford. Mental health issues are worsening by the minute. Healthcare and social nets put in place to help the average person are disappearing faster than anyone can imagine. The cost of everything, because so few companies own most everything, is skyrocketing. This is the end result of Capitalism when it is left unchecked by socialist programs and legislation put in place to prevent it from happening.

But the most interesting aspect of the dream in how it correlates to the current socio-economic structure boundary we live within, at least here in the USA, is that the end of the dream concluded with a singular person left alone with an entire world to do with as they pleased, yet no one to share it with, and with that, more miserable than anyone else could possibly imagine.

If there is one thing that I have grasped a concept of throughout my life, it is that happiness doesn't stem from how much more we can gain from others or in comparison of others, but rather the sharing of what we have in life with them.

I once sold a car for $500 that was worth several thousand because I knew it would make that person happy. I have given away things worth hundreds of dollars. The things I have now? I enjoy them the most when I get to share them with the people I value.

I was recently asked by a friend why it is that I would do things for people I don't necessarily care much for - I have been called by someone I used to consider a friend near daily for over a month now, and while I don't answer every call from them, when I do it revolves around the complications this particular person has with their significant other. I haven't otherwise heard from them in years, but I still give them some time. Why? Because the minimal effort it is to have the conversation with them, giving them someone to talk things through with, makes the world a better place. A lack of connection with people can only lead to that person having a worse time within life, and if it is something so small that can make an impact then there really isn't much harm done anywhere.

This world does not have to be this cut throat. And while I am not particularly the biggest fan of her, I do have to agree with the question that Billie Eilish recently asked to billionaires - if you're a billionaire, why are you a billionare?

-Dustin S. Stover