Envisioning a society not based on competition, on artificial scarcity, or even one based on a foundational level of respect for every member of society is a concept considered to be fruitless unless you are writing Sci-fi for Lucille Ball (yeah, she was involved in Star Trek). That is to say, it's a non-starter in serious quarters.
The evidence that human lives proceeded in a very different manner in the thousands and thousands of years prior to wide-scale civilization and agriculture is largely ignored. Many books have been written in regard to the concept, and they do a fine job of articulating it (The Fall by Steve Taylor and Ishmael by Daniel Quinn are stand-outs). The basic concept is that once "the food got locked up" through wide-scale agriculture, then there were those more than happy to hold the keys. These keys produced power differentials and an often artificial scarcity. In association with this, concepts such as lineage and ownership became more prominent and thus, the subjugation and "ownership" of women became a feature.
Prior to this global lockdown of the food, small groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers existed in a quite sustainable manner. The tripe about short and brutish lives does not seem to be true in most cases. Basing leisure time as a measure of well-being, those hunter-gatherers spent far more of their time in the pursuit of social interactions and other leisure activities than the workers of today. This has been studied even in modern times with tribes of the Amazon. Hell, even medieval peasants had more days off and less hours spent working for others than the office worker of today. It doesn't seem to be a normal breakdown of the day to spend 8-12 hours working to maintain shelter and food -- increased time for the arts, for love and socialization seems to be more the human baseline need. The inherent inefficiency of having to work for others like our oligarch class increases the workday by magnitudes from what it really should be. Elon's jets don't fly themselves. No, they require the input of millions of us working extra minutes of the day for each member of this parasite class.
This situation is probably why so many are unhappy and unconnected, falling into the notion that there is something wrong with them rather than realizing they have been plunged into a world at odds with the internal genetic memory of generation upon generation who led lives with more freedom. Why is it we can memorize the words to thousands of songs effortlessly and sing to them on the radio at will- yet if we are forced to recite the rules on creating an Excel spreadsheet, we falter? I'd say it's because we are hard-wired to sing and tell stories at night around the fires, not to attempt self-domestication in cubicles.
From what I've said it might sound like I hope for a return to hunter-gatherer lives. No, I do like the connectivity of the modern world and the leaps in science. My point is that we have a need for socialization, a baseline way of living that has not been factored in because we have all been brainwashed and forced to participate in this sick sociological experiment. It's been one of subjugation and limiting human potential. It's ironic because the system is not conducive to human happiness, not even for the billionaires. One simply has to witness the front row group at Trump's inauguration. Has there ever been such an exhibit of raw insecurity in those with so much power? Sadly, it looks like nothing will fill their dark soul voids. This way of life isn't even making them satisfied. They are subject to the same wants and needs that we are, but they have deluded themselves into thinking that the way of happiness is power and distancing themselves from humanity, rather than embracing connectivity and empathy -- the only clear ways to find peace and purpose.
But back to considering our heritage, if you will, what we all truly need. Humans are a curious species, and we need to create. We take care of others if we aren't brainwashed into thinking that our brothers and sisters are our enemies. Loneliness literally kills people every day and we are creating a world with more and more of it. As anthropologists have described -- evidence of care for the elderly, for those who had broken bones that required others to care for them to maintain health again -- it's all there in the historical record. Don't believe the new techno-eugenicists who would have us leave others in the dust if they are not what they consider productive. Don't believe them when they try to say this is just the natural order of things. This is their own toxicity. They know nothing but affluence paired with internal emptiness and they only seem to feel something........anything -- if they are causing others pain.
We have deep needs for connection, purpose and egalitarianism. The first contact with native peoples in the Americas clearly indicated many offered assistance to the early settlers in a reflexive manner. Again, they showed ways of life, not necessarily built on coercion, suppression and extreme hierarchy. Yes, I know exceptions were obviously there, but I'm speaking to the overall more stable and less destructive ways of life exhibited by those not participating in settler-colonialism. The best notions the founding fathers came up with were lifted from the Iroquois. It was discussed in colonial times how it was a problem that settlers who experienced native life would often want to stay, refusing to return to s0-called civilized society. I'm not trying to do some weird fetish of native life, but to give credit where credit is due. Overall, it was a more sustainable lifestyle and many Europeans found it to be desirable. It's a failure of our imaginations and in many cases, willful disregard to consider that our current way of life is not remotely close to a default human condition.
Yes, we have serious problems as a species, to the extent I'd almost entertain the wildest of notions, that we are a hybrid of sorts, such potential for good and for evil, often at odds with ourselves, but I'd say this internal discord comes much from the way of life we've all been trapped within. It's been one of overwhelming fear, lack of free will, and all tied up in the crazy-making notion that this is normal and no other way of life is possible.
In the current situation, particularly in the US, the minimal freedom we did have seems to be dwindling. By that, I am especially speaking to the freedom from notion. Freedom from economic uncertainty, freedom from others proclaiming soft ownership of your body, freedom from a life dictated by your parent's social class at your birth. The very minimal movement and freedom that was in place is being clamped down upon by those who are the primary vectors of this civilizational sickness. A healthy individual with billions of dollars could no more spearhead efforts to further enslave the society they live in than cut off their own hand. But we aren't talking about healthy individuals. We see billionaires who will never be satiated, who can never have enough and sadly, these are the ones we have in charge of us right now. They make cruel decisions with not so much little regard to the consequences, but more like no regard for how this plays out for anyone but themselves.
This situation would not have been possible without a populace who believes that this is something of a norm. We watch television shows about hoarders and shake our heads but accept the most extreme hoarders of all. Yes, everyone complains, but they overall only envision something slightly better-as in larger cages and better protection from the capricious whims of the economy. Unfortunately, there is no large-scale belief system that this is inherently insane and perhaps one of the most cruel ways to handle a population.
It's difficult to envision what might play out. These are rapidly changing times. I try to do "though experiments" on how one would go about improving this situation and my mind's eye is blank (also I literally have aphantasia so it's in truth always dark in there). But I try to think in concepts and in logical steps for improvement and transcendence. One aspect that I keep coming down to is that we have to purge the notion that anyone is worth more than another. This is the ground floor, the required foundation -- if this very basic concept can be accepted as truth, I think we'd be shocked at what we can accomplish.
There are enormous needs for change, but each one of us can look at our own prejudices, our own self-imposed domestication and attempt to take down bricks one by one. I'm speaking to our mental makeup, sadly it's obviously not possible for most to extract physically from the economic necessities of participating in the system. But even so, we have the seeds in our minds if we choose to grow them. I apologize if this is too far into the woo for most readers who are used to reading about nuts-and-bolts problems and issues. I've just had a need to look for solutions to avoid despondence and sadly answers aren't exactly forthcoming in this current environment. But still -- there is absolutely not one power or entity that can stop us from envisioning a better world and from passing these views to others. We may not even see the fruit of such thoughts and worldview alterations- likely we will not, but if we want a purpose, something to clearly indicate why we are here and what we need to do, I'd say embracing that mindset and allowing it to flourish is the most important thing we can do for any descendants. It's a horrible and exciting time to be alive -- we might end up the group that begins the needed lifting of the veil and the unclouding of our own minds.