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In the chapter following this one we are going to compare competition and cooperation as social forces. We will do that to illustrate two ways in which we can measure the expression of human capacity. By identifying the less efficient means of utilizing capacity individuals are given a more sophisticated approach to their social choices. Before that analysis I will here investigate human capacity itself so that our understanding will be thorough. The acceptance of this understanding of human capacity is not necessary to the success of the next chapter but it does magnify the contrast of those two principles and is valuable as such.
This theory of The Finite Capacities is a response to the pervasive belief system that assumes human beings are capable of limitless achievement. This element of contemporary moral thought is a myth that has unlimited appeal. Countless times I have witnessed the recounting of stories or events that have as their message the idea that a man or woman can achieve anything if they only “put their minds to it.” This slogan saturates the modern moral paradigmatic structure. The awareness that human beings have available to them, very often, more freedom than their daily activities indicate often leads to this false inference that they have access to limitless freedom. Because of the powerful affect of participating in this freedom of choice we are sometimes overwhelmed by the success of individuals and assume that it derives from their conscious manipulation of these choices. The example set by these individuals in no way implies that their potential was limitless and there is rarely mention of grace (luck) as an element of thatsuccess. By grace or luck I am referring to an exemption from those experiences that tax one’s capacity such as victimizations, brutalizations, abuses, or accidents. Great leaps along the social hierarchy are, in my estimation, the exception, not the rule and these exceptions are in no way detailed enough to provide us with anything like a scientific indication of human capacity. What I am proposing with The Theory of Finite Capacity is that a more beneficial relationship with choice results from seeing our capacity as limited. Seeing our lives as a finite quantity of force to be expressed by our daily choices gives greater value to those choices.
The importance of this distinction can be found in our developing understanding of the relationship that wealth shares with violence. If we see our lives as limited, rather than comforting ourselves with this notion that every day is a new opportunity for endless sporadic growth, our lives become more precious, more worthy of protection. It will be more difficult for others to convince us to trade away our time and energy for purposes other than our own. When people are exploited their capacities are being undermined permanently. Seeing the social structure this way helps us to understand with more clarity the overly protective zeal of the wealthy class, what it is that they are protecting, and how it is that they sustain their capacity to do so. If they maintain their capacity, they maintain their freedom to use their life force for the fulfillment of their desires. As we are all given this life force we are all given a purpose and the protection of that finite quantity is vital to the fulfillment of its purpose. If one accepts this minor distinction then they are forced to make a major change in their economy of choice. This development, the wise application of force (action), is an area where I propose one can engage in progressive leadership by example. Protecting one’s life force and resisting opposition to our purpose is a sign of healthy self-esteem.
Those who believe that human beings have access to a source of infinite power are singing the sad song of comfort. It is a non-practical idealism that does not match reality. There are talented men and women who have been beaten down by life’s brutality, so much so that they are incapable of exercising the same level of courage and will power as they had in their youth. Because of this, if they have any hope of transcending past traumas, they will require help. And if these people were driven toward egalitarian or progressive ends, then their disability can only be a comfort to those who thrive off of the polarization of humanity. Looking for methodology in these phenomena is not difficult. The myth of infinite capacity acts as a magnification of shame for those exploited by the wealthy. This magnification and perversion is difficult to dismiss as circumstantial. If we are to match that evil, whether it be systemic or conscious, protective as it is of its own life force, we cannot make the mistake of assuming ourselves to be omnipotent. We cannot afford that kind of illusion. Humility is a realistic acceptance of the bumps and bruises that come with oppression.
As we search for a way to secure our God-given capacity and the right to fulfill our purpose it is necessary to understand that some will be required to invest a previously unexpected portion of their life force to that effort and they are the small minority of wealthy citizens. In other words, we who fight for ourselves, for the equal distribution of security are a threat, in a very real way, to the wealthy. We threaten their life force, if not explicitly with violence, implicitly with the threat of forced participation in sociallife. Although I am a pacifist, a passionate believer in the eradication of violence, it is essential to one’s understanding of equality to see that even without the use of guns, weapons or physical coercion that the rising of the poor is a violent experience for the wealthy where some portion of their security, their life force, is taken from them. That is the price of community. Those who insist on the infinite power of the human spirit will never fully comprehend the structural relationships between wealth, power and class. Because we are born with a finite quantity of life force an egalitarian economy of that force is the only type that moves us as a species toward growth and communal wisdom, that is the law that defines any history of progress.
On a personal level The Finite Capacity Theory helps one develop a relationship with the world that is cooperative. The trade-offs become more informed and because of this one’s purpose is clarified through compassionate negotiation. If I were to continue to believe that God was an infinite source of power, and further that my freedom was absolute, then I would undermine the value of that partnership. To assume this about people is to assume that our gifts cannot be abused, that there is no moral scale, that there is no justice, that there is no law. To believe in God or in the will with this ambiguous absoluteness is to undermine the practicality of goodness, the getting your hands dirty type of goodness where a neighbor helps a neighbor thus relinquishing life force in an act of generosity. We are given a certain number of years on this earth, what do we do with that time? That is the question posed by The Finite Capacity Theory and our actions represent the answer. What is our true desire? Do we really wish to battle and shed blood or do we have an interest in a real solution? In the deeps of our collective soul do we long for peace and brotherhood? If we are afraid of these things is it because of the traumology of modern civilization? Has our life force been so threatened that we will hang on the delicate remainder by absolute obedience to our captors?
If I did not believe there was a way to protect myself while working on social progress I would fall obediently in line with the rest and pray for mercy. I find nothing romantic in suicide or martyrdom. I want to live a long healthy life. I want to sit on my front porch rocking grandchildren on my knee while I watch the beautiful sun set. However, the possibility of that has become so threatened that I believe it is time to take back the promised dawn of my birth.
Essential to the exercise of social progress is a clearly defined personal understanding of one’s purpose. So, when I encourage the reader to fight for their spirit’s economy it is meant as encouragement for the fulfillment of that purpose. I will address principles in the Experiment Section that help to clarify one’s purpose or heart’s desire, a necessary precondition to the development of a personal economy of effort. As I discussed in the Meditation on the Object these ideas all begin to flow into one another as one gets closer to the truth (one’s purpose, the object, desire, self-discovery, science, progress, etc.). In fact, this is evidence that one is unifying as an individual, becoming efficient as a manager of one’s life force. When an individual’s worldview becomes unified dissipation declines. If every human being experienced personal unity there would be no need for government or coercion.
The science of living is an attempt to aid in the achievement of that ideal. In living by this unified body of thought, honoring one’s desires, protecting one’s finite gift of life force, one develops personal unity and in that development lives to one’s greatest potential, discovering the true nature of life by nurturing its full fruition. Inspiration drives this and the development of language for this science is essential to community unity and the realization of our potential as a species. Now we will look at how we, as a species, utilize individual power in order to clarify any imbalances or presumptions that might be responsible for the problems that we are facing.
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