For What It’s Worth

greedpigFuck you, little people!  I got mine—  see if you can get yours.

When it comes to economics, the profit motive is to the service motive what fear is to love in religion. But ruthless competition— for example, this, this, or this— that is based on the narrow-minded pork of self-interest, eventually destroys even the very things it seeks to maintain.  And when it comes to real values— the exclusive and self-serving motive for profit is clearly incompatible with so-called Christian ideals— and even more incompatible with the actual teachings of Jesus.

But for now, the profit motive keeps many otherwise lazy-assed slobs hard at work, bringing home the bacon.

The profit motive is altogether base and wholly unworthy of an advanced culture; despite the fact it’s an indispensable factor throughout the earlier phases of civilization.

The motivation of profit must be with us until we have superior nonprofit motives for economic striving and social serving.  The transcendent urges of superlative wisdom, intriguing brotherhood, and excellent lure of spiritual attainment can then remotivate the best in our selves.

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Present-day profit-motivated economics is doomed unless profit motives can be augmented by service motives.
—The Urantia Papers

2 Comments

  1. Propagandee

    The economy according to Star Trek, created by Urantia Book reader Gene Roddenberry:

    The New World Economy (NWE) is the economic system that took shape on Earth in the late 22nd century, around the time the Federation formed.

    According to Tom Paris, it was around the 22nd century that “money went the way of the dinosaur.” (VOY: “Dark Frontier”).

    Under the New World Economy material needs and money no longer existed and humanity had grown out of its infancy. People were no longer obsessed with the accumulation of things, effectively eliminating hunger and want and the need for possessions. The challenge and driving force then were to improve oneself, to enrich oneself and the betterment of all humanity. (TNG: “The Neutral Zone”, “Time’s Arrow, Part II”, Star Trek: First Contact)

    A moral society should aim to preserve the self-respect of its citizenry and afford every normal individual adequate opportunity for self-realization. – The Urantia Book

  2. nonnie9999

    everything has to change. an executive’s salary should be based on an average of what the other employees earn. if the company makes a profit, everyone should get a bonus. if not, nobody should. actors and athletes should not be making millions of dollars for a movie or for a season. we bitch and moan about the ceos, but where’s the first actor or athlete to say, ‘no, i shouldn’t be making so much money. take most of it, and divide it among the gofers who get paid so little’. how about taking less money to make sure the ticket prices are affordable for the average family? here’s an idea–the congress really screwed up this entire ceo bonus thing, so i say we give them all a pay decrease. in fact, for many years, i have been saying that members of congress should be forced to live on the average of the people in their states or districts. let them pay for their health care and everything else out of that money. how can they represent the people when they have no idea how the people really live? no pensions for them either. how many of the rest of us how pensions nowadays? they shouldn’t either (especially the ones who have gone to jail).

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