This is Your Paradigm

This is Your

Paradigm

This is one example of the

dominant paradigm. A paradigm

is the set of basic assumptions

people make about what’s

possible, what’s allowed, and

what’s reasonable. Think of it

as a worldview, or a set of ideas

about how things are “supposed

to be.” You know the expression

“thinking outside the box”?

Paradigm is the biggest box

you can imagine. It’s the set of

questions to which everyone

would answer “Well, duh” or “Of

course that’s the way things are,

what are you, stupid?” Questions

like:

• Do you need to make money

to live comfortably?

• Is progress good?

• Is it a good idea to build a

fence around my farm to keep

the predators out?

• If humanity had no overseeing

authority, would there be lots of

crime and violence?

Since you’re reading this

manifesto, you probably have a

more open mind toward these

questions. But if you asked a

random Joe or Jane on the street,

you’d get a bunch of “Well, duh”s

and funny looks.

The thing about paradigms is that

they’re self-fulfilling prophecies.

They reinforce and perpetuate

themselves. In the dominant

paradigm, the answer to these

questions is yes. But the only

reason the answer is yes is because

of the dominant paradigm. If we

lived in a different paradigm – if

people believed differently – the

answers might change. It’s like a big group of people all leaning

on each other. They’re stable, and

they don’t fall down, but they’re

not supported by anything but

themselves. If a bunch of people

stood straight up all at once, the

structure would collapse and a

new one would take its place. And

anyone still leaning would fall

down.

money doesn’t grow on trees.

But wait a second. Food does grow

on trees. And trees are shelter.

Why do we have to work so hard

to buy things that grow freely out

of the ground?

Imagine a world where food and

shelter are freely available from

the Earth, and work is an optional

activity to earn money for luxuries.

That would certainly cut down on

rent and grocery bills, wouldn’t it?

Even if this life isn’t the life you

would choose, why don’t we even

see it as an option?