Dear Editor,
My penchant for examining the condition of mankind as a means of identifying his problems/constraints and devising mechanisms to overcome these has recently led me to consider what the ideal state of man should be. While not being an objective of economics, the subject covers ideas where man maximizes his welfare/satisfaction, or achieves his full potential. This means that he accomplishes all that his abilities will allow him (it should be observed here that man’s abilities are very much influenced by his diet and lifestyle, since these impact his mental faculties). Textbook discussions seem to limit this to ensuring that man can, and is able to satisfy his material needs and wants. It is however proposed that the ideal state of man should be the overcoming of obstacles to establish a successful household (failure here greatly increases the risk of failure of his children), achieve financial independence, and lastly, realising intellectual freedom, unconstrained by preconceived ideas of society/culture which conditions/enslaves his mind to live his life in some predestined role. Ultimately, he controls and decides his destiny. Financial independence is often tied to educational achievement. Its achievement is made more difficult in the absence of reading and computational skills, since these are essential tools for self-learning which facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and the mathematics required for a job or starting and running a successful business. This is important because establishing a business is the surest path to becoming financially independent in the absence of a tertiary education; initial failures in business ventures is a part of identifying the right business opportunity for each person. It is important not be discouraged by initial failures. The perfect match will only be found with continued effort. Ensuring that the basics of quality, profitability and competitiveness are properly understood will be helpful.
Societies, for the most part, have conditioned the majority of their members to become workers with the idea that they will be financially comfortable when they retire. In many developing and advanced economies, this has proven to be the greatest falsehood. The recommendation here is that today’s workers and young people condition themselves to establishing businesses between the ages of thirty-five to fifty to secure their financial future. Those without a tertiary education may need to do this sooner. This should be considered on a case by case basis because the establishment of a successful business as a second career hinges on learning how to manage a successful business and establishing the necessary contacts and potential customer base to guarantee a successful revenue stream with a new business. Intellectual freedom, the breaking of the proverbial mental shackles of slavery is significant for the realization of man’s full potential. This discussion is dedicated to them as well as others so affected. Achieving success without exacting a price on society necessitates absolute rejection of discriminatory practices, with the only criteria for consideration being the ability/capacity of individuals to execute considered roles. Members of society caught up in systems which engage in discriminatory practices, if already not doing so, should make efforts to remove such mechanisms from their organizations. Although it may be difficult to overcome ethnic discrimination because of the historical tit-for-tat between ethnic groups, this would seem the only viable solution. Victims of these practices should not allow themselves to be discouraged from becoming successful. Instead, they should adopt a solutions-oriented attitude to address their individual problems and constraints, making it a matter of practice to overcome these. It is important not to be conditioned to the acceptance of some reason/cause for failure. One last observation: young people should shun subcultures which promote unsavory, anti-social behaviours. Being the ‘baddest’ is a most unproductive social label. This is because when two ‘bad’ men meet, one usually winds up deceased while the other is incarcerated. Negotiation without recourse to physical interaction is a more productive mechanism for managing differences.
Sincerely,
Craig Sylvester
