How can I be considered productive in the
world?
Many people wonder if their daily activities and lives
justify the amount of resources they have available to them: flying to a
vacation anywhere, driving a wonderful car, living in comfortable
surroundings, having unlimited food to enjoy....etc. Many people think
about this, especially, when comparing their lives to lesser fortunate
people including third world populations.
The answer is two fold. First, it is the nation you live in. Second it is your special role in that nation.
The nation we live in is extremely productive. We, in the U.S., have all the elements that help commerce thrive: a meritocracy found nowhere else on the planet, a social bias and laws that favor openness and honesty, a love of markets and technology and one of the most diverse populations on the planet. Those elements mean prosperity, of which each member gets a part.
How you are productive in this society is not necessarily apparent. If you are a trust fund offspring, a criminal, a bum or a stay at home blogger your contribution may be hard to imagine.
Because there are people in the minus side of productivity, there are many people who are in the zero category like prison guards and most of the criminal justice system.
Any individual may be on the positive side of the scale. It is hard to know until they have lived there whole life and plenty of time has passed to see their contribution.
The answer is two fold. First, it is the nation you live in. Second it is your special role in that nation.
The nation we live in is extremely productive. We, in the U.S., have all the elements that help commerce thrive: a meritocracy found nowhere else on the planet, a social bias and laws that favor openness and honesty, a love of markets and technology and one of the most diverse populations on the planet. Those elements mean prosperity, of which each member gets a part.
How you are productive in this society is not necessarily apparent. If you are a trust fund offspring, a criminal, a bum or a stay at home blogger your contribution may be hard to imagine.
Productivity is a
scale from -10 to +10. Some people are +10 like Steve Jobs and Mancur
Olson.
Because there are people in the minus side of productivity, there are many people who are in the zero category like prison guards and most of the criminal justice system.
Any individual may be on the positive side of the scale. It is hard to know until they have lived there whole life and plenty of time has passed to see their contribution.