Hopeful Thinking: Kids running the candy store

What is the learning curve of freedom and power? I ask this because that’s the question at the root of Western civilization and the single most important determining factor in our collective future.

What do groups of humanity do when they achieve freedom and power? And to clarify, individual people under only rare circumstances actually possess either true freedom, or power. I am drawing a larger picture here than individual people.

The specific freedom I’m speaking of is first a freedom from monarchical rule. It’s the tyrannical yolk our country removed from itself during the American Revolution. This country became free from King George and had thus fought for and won the right to self-governance.

I can picture those 18th century revolutionaries, having just won, saying to themselves, “So now what do we do?” At that moment, America began the still-unfinished learning curve of true freedom. The kids were now fully in charge of the candy store.

What does a kid do with its own giant candy store? What is the process of learning how to be responsible with such an asset? How long does it take to figure out its truest value?

Because I would think it’s inevitable that first the child would nearly destroy themselves with sugar. And then, following an expensive trip to the dentist, they’d realize they actually need to order more candy. At some point it might suddenly occur to them that they need to actually manage this business.

They’d start to notice their employees, of course. Either because they managed it via their own wisdom, or because the employees would revolt to the point to which their demands must be capitulated. Next begins the long learning curve of recognizing that the most profitable companies are ones in which their employees feel safe, respected, and valued.

It’s hard having freedom. It’s a lot of work. It’s not just a consequence-free utopia of eating all the candy you want. The process of wielding it with wisdom is a path littered with centuries of unintended consequences.

Where are we now in the long process of learning how to manage our candy store with wisdom? For wisdom naturally means compassion as well. The store owner would eventually realize that doing good business is more profound than simply having a product to sell that people want. There is a large system at play in which all of the various components have something to say about whether or not the business is successful. Employee satisfaction is prominent among them.

I use this metaphor (or perhaps overuse it) as a way of describing where we might be right now on this continuum. As well, I use it as a way of prognosticating what lies in the future.

It is my optimistic contention that we are on an upward trajectory with regard to the wisdom with which we deploy our freedom and power. We do not individually have all that much of it. But as a country, taking note of our place in the world, we have all the freedom and power we could ever hope to achieve. However, we would probably not give ourselves very high marks on our progress at the moment.

But to be honest, I don’t think it’s possible to truly grasp the wisdom necessary to wisely use freedom and power without first abusing it; without first over eating all of the candy in sight and suffering the gastrointestinal consequences to follow. Do humans really learn any other way?

Though some would argue against it (and in the process of preparing this column many have), I believe with every fiber of my being that we are going to be OK.

Our freedom and power are expanding to a worrying degree, it’s true. But when I look at the past 400 years with an eye to wondering what will happen in the next 400, I can’t help but observe the learning curve at work. Of course it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. It’s hard to think of what we are experiencing now as part of the progress we seek. But it most definitely is.

Our best evidence is the vast amount of human collaboration required to accomplish some of the things which might ultimately herald our best future. Accomplishments like medical innovations, space exploration, the survival of our species through a global pandemic. These do not happen by accident.

This scale of collaboration signals something extraordinarily encouraging about our future. Because there are a lot of things we can buy or figure out, but we can’t force collaboration to happen. Of course, you can put a number of smart people in a room at gunpoint and tell them to produce something. But will it yield the same result as collaboration which occurs through gradually increasing wisdom? Over time I feel that type of coerced collaboration will eventually collapse upon itself. Sure, it may produce things for a while, but its effectiveness will naturally erode because human ingenuity does not thrive in the presence of tyranny.

Coming through the pipeline now are things like quantum computing, nanotechnology, brain-computer interfaces, and of course, artificial intelligence. These are the new line of candy products in our store. Tastier than anything we’ve yet tried. But without wisdom or good collaboration, our teeth will explode from our head with cavities.

Are we gaining the wisdom we need in order to avoid the worst? Behind the scenes, yes,

But you have to look for it. I foresee a time in the not so distant future when our swords truly do become plowshares. Mainly because it’s inevitable that the learning curve would eventually make it so. How much we suffer in the meantime is up to us. But that our future is bright, I have no doubt whatsoever.

We will still need a good dental plan, though.

Wil Darcangelo, M.Div, is a Unitarian Universalist Minister at the First Parish of Fitchburg and the First Church of Lancaster. He is also the host of a monthly radio show called Our Common Dharma based on his columns every 4th Monday at noon on WPKZ 105.3FM. Email wildarcangelo@gmail.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @wildarcangelo. His blog, Hopeful Thinking, can be found at www.hopefulthinkingworld.blogspot.com.