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Written by Gabrielle Guthrie for “See, there’s this thing called biology…~insanitybytes” @ https://insanitybytes2.wordpress.com/
Original post found @ https://insanitybytes2.wordpress.com/2023/09/25/selfishness-is-unnecessary/
Selfishness Is Unnecessary?
25MondaySep 2023
Posted by insanitybytes22
Tags abundance, blogging, culture, faith, humor, insanitybytes22, life, opinion, politics, scarcity
“It is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on Earth at a ‘higher standard of living than any have ever known.’ It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary and henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by survival.– “R.Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller was a quirky character and a systems theorist. Systems theory is the study of “systems,” also known as, “cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components.” Chuckling here, but I personally owe him a debt of gratitude for simply putting a name to something that for some of us is a mindset or a personality trait, or a compulsion, rather than a clear and obvious indication of madness. Carl Jung may have called it the architect, a personality trait that often involves “perfecting the details of life.”
I quite agree with the Buckminister Fuller quote above, especially the fact that selfishness is unnecessary. However, the problem with his idea is that he is speaking primarily of the material world when in fact some 99.9% of our problems as human beings stem from the unseen world, the spiritual, emotional, and psychological world.
Selfishness is not so much about how we won’t share our dinner, but rather how we won’t share our power. Somebody else is always hogging all the attention, all the fame, all the influence, all of the good looks, all of the promotion, all of the favor. The powers that be, like them more. They have better luck than I do! Selfishness often operates in terms of comparison to others.
Can I speak of what is considered “rational?” The quote suggests, “Selfishness is unnecessary and henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by survival.” Yes, well human beings have the remarkable ability to rational-lies anything. We’ve recently just come out of a national toilet paper hoarding episode that I pray is never repeated. Please don’t try to tell me any of that was rational or related to survival! Most of human behavior is completely unrationalizable. (I don’t intend to offend anyone or hurt any feelings by making such declarations, but it simply is what it is.)
There is some really good news here! Jesus Christ heals. Indeed, selfishness is unnecessary, as in one need not embrace a scarcity mentality of “never enough.” That mindset is often accompanied by anxiety and distress. In case no one noticed we are currently living in a world heavily fueled by anxiety, by demanding we invest our time and attention in bad things that haven’t even happened yet. Wars, rumors of war, complete economic collapse, wrinkles, a dirty house, etc, etc. The vast majority of our advertising, commercial interests, and political world is driven by anxiety.
It would be just lovely if the church would do something different, perhaps the complete opposite, but I digress. Just saying, that a “calm gentle spirit that does not give way to fear” is so needed in the world right now.
Anyway, Jesus is really good at dealing with our scarcity mentality and healing what ails us. God is all about abundance, more than enough, more than we can even handle, and Jesus came that we might have “life and life more abundant.” It is human beings who insist on living within a scarcity mentality of never enough to go around. I suspect this really is the origin of original sin, not pride so much, not trying to be like God, but simply a scarcity mentality. Adam and Eve were in this beautiful garden with an abundance of everything and could have all the fruit they wanted, but alas, scarcity crept in somewhere and they decided they were deprived.
Later we see Cain murder his own brother, perhaps due to that same mindset, feeling deprived of God’s favor or left out or not number one. Sin in that case amounted to the false belief that there just wasn’t enough of God’s goodness for the both of them.
If you wish to buck the system, if you wish to rebel and do something radical, refuse to buy anything anxiety is selling. Refuse to play the scarcity game. Insist on believing there is more than enough. Turn to Jesus anytime you feel left out or deprived and allow Him to fill your cup. I really like to meditate on “tenfold,” as in whatever is missing, God will restore tenfold. Ten is just an easy number to multiply, it’s quite possible God will double or triple what you feel is missing. Chuckling because some of us would probably feel left out or deprived if God only doubled it and we had an expectation of tenfold.
Tragically what threatens us in the Western world is actually not COVID, not illegal immigration, not roaming mobs of antifa, not crime, but rather indulgent living, gluttony, too much good food, too much sugar, too much alcohol, too much comfort, too many drugs, too much government, too much access to medical care…. Simply too much.
Some people call it envy, pride, or selfishness, but I don’t think that captures the nature of the problem properly. It is more about this false mindset of scarcity that leads us to believe if others “have” it somehow takes away from what I have. Alas, even those who have often cannot be content on account of the fact that what they have only has value and brings happiness if it is MOAR than what someone else has. In the Bible, God tells Cain, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
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P.S. (from bruce) When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !! If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ?? Here is the truth about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ… https://godsmanforever.com
To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…
You say you are a “born again” believer… BUT is your soul “ON FIRE” for the Lord ?? If not, open this link – https://godsmanforever.com/2020/08/01/are-you-a-christian-in-gods-eyes-and-on-fire-for-the-lord-or-not/
God's group 
Great perspective on the unnecessary nature of selfishness.
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