Lately, headlines have been warning that prices are about to go up. The price of many commodities has already started rising and pundits alert that this is only the beginning. “Unilever warns of more price hikes as inflation worsens,” writes Reuters. “As Inflation Persists, Everything Is Getting More Expensive,” echoes The New York Times. “Fed to begin slowing economic aid as inflation worries rise,” warns the Los Angeles Times. Everyone has become gloom and doom prophets, but no one is asking why there should be inflation in the first place.
Commentators on all news outlets explain that shortage of computer chips, jams in supply chains, rising oil prices, and a spike in consumer demand following the termination of the closures are all contributing to the price hikes. I think we should not be so credulous; behind all those “crises” are people poised to make billions over billions at our expense.
They will not starve us; starving people doesn’t create revenue for tycoons. To keep padding their bank accounts, magnets will give us crumbs here and there to keep us going. They won’t deny us food or electricity, or other staples, as this would send people to the streets, which is bad for business. What they will do is stretch the wire thin until it almost snaps, and squeeze from us as much as they can without crossing over to riots and mayhem.
We might think that if someone else were in charge, things would be better. We might elect a new president, force the government to “regulate” the rich or tax them, but it is all for nothing. In order to get to the top, you have to be like the people at the top, but worse, or they will crush you. As a result, anyone who gets to the top is already willing to perpetuate the system.
Moreover, we the people have been numbed for so many years that we can no longer imagine a different life than what we have. We have been made to think that life is a struggle for survival.
All the while, the chiefs are running a completely different life than ours, one we cannot even imagine. In their parallel universe, which governs ours, money doesn’t buy gadgets or vacations, but power, control, and much more money.
But there is one thing that money cannot buy, and it is not love. Money can’t buy meaning!
When we begin to ponder the meaning of the rat race, the reason for the madness we call “civilization,” and indeed, the meaning of life itself, we will transcend all physical boundaries. For now, the inequality and injustice that are spreading through society are only aggravating our misery. Eventually, they will force us to ask what it is all for. When this happens, we will begin to learn why we are here and how we can rise above the physical shells that host our tormented souls.
We will not begin this process of self-education until we feel that we have suffered enough. It is therefore my hope that we will decide to terminate this senseless ego-game and start rising above the power struggles as soon as possible.
Once we embark on the new journey, we will discover that we have been deluding ourselves the whole time thinking that we can rise above others. We will discover that we are all connected, so every time we hurt someone, we hurt ourselves, as well, in ways we could not notice. This is why in our previous mode of work, we could never be happy. We will realize that we can be happy only when everyone is happy, just as no part of the body can feel good unless the whole body feels good.
Our biggest enemy is ignorance. Our obliviousness to our interconnectedness makes us act in the selfish ways we do, so our first and most important task is to grasp that pain anywhere is pain everywhere.
Only if we understand this, we will act in a considerate manner, and we will suddenly discover that there is no need for any price hikes, there is no shortage of anything, but rather abundance of everything that we might need to give us a good, secure, and happy life.
Photo Caption:
Prepared food items at a grocery store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on October 20, 2021. Canada’s inflation rate reached 4.1 percent in August, highest since 2003 and as a result experts are predicting a big increase in grocery bills across Canada. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto)