Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash
Raising prices and/or Your fees, asking for a bigger salary is not the answer in a capitalistic society.
The underlying point of this piece is to shed some light on our capitalistic system, what raising of prices, fees and salaries actually does. And what can be done with this?
Let me elaborate on this further.
Every time a business or a consultant raises their fees, or an employee asks for a bigger salary, it sends a ripple effect into human society.
Meaning, someone else somewhere else has to do the same.
Let us say that You are a consultant who does freelancing.
Obviously, the ripple effect that You are going to send out into the world is a smaller one than raising oil prices but it’s an effect nonetheless.
So You raise Your fees, great! You are making more money. Yes, this is
true.
Have You asked where this money is actually coming from?
Depending on Your clients, it’s probably coming from two different sources.
Maybe three. Other individuals, other companies, maybe governments who are actually companies disguised as governments.
This means that their expenses rise. Pretty simple equation:
You raise Your fees = more expenses for Your clients.
Disclaimer! This does not mean You shouldn’t raise Your fees!
You probably should, and You are asking too little for Your efforts!!!
But in the grand scheme of things, this accomplishes very little.
This only accomplishes putting more money into the pockets of those who dare to ask. And if everyone does this then it actually accomplishes even less. Meaning now all the prices rise and we are in the same position we were before. We still have the same purchasing power we had before.
You see, it is written into this system that some win and some lose. It is a zero-sum game.
Those who don’t (raise their prices/fees) make less and less, and get left behind.
I know that during these modern times it is very cut-throat, everyone
has the approach of “This is how it should be, the weak should be left behind.”
I’m raising the question of, should it really be so in our “human” society?
It doesn’t sound like very human, it doesn’t actually make sense at all.
Businesses should be geared towards advancing human society, not leaving humans behind.
The exchange of value system should promote and lift up humans, not the other way around.
Where does this problem actually start?
It begins within each of us.
If we want power over others, meaning other people to do the work we don’t want to do, then there’s going to be a problem.
If we start understanding this very basic fact that human beings are on this planet together. And our survival depends on our capacity to cooperate towards a common freely chosen goal, then things might start to change.
As of now, if You are a consultant, coach, guide, etc, You probably should raise Your fees. And ask for competitive compensation.
But in the grand scheme of things, raising prices, raising fees, raising salaries does not do much. It will either go to hyperinflation (the purchasing power of Your exchange of value decreases dramatically).
Or we will create an even bigger gap between classes. For those of You who think this is a good thing, it is not. This will lead to unrest, possibly violence, etc in our society.
What can be done with this?
Some of You think that cryptocurrency will save us all. It will not do that, unfortunately. It will replace the monetary system yes. And it will provide a slightly better alternative yes.
But it is not the end all be all solution.
What else needs to happen?
The way we distribute resources has to change dramatically. Having equity or a piece of a company that You work for will be the next logical step. These equities have to be carefully thought through and divided between people.
Otherwise, we will be soon back in the same place. A huge gap between the classes, civil unrest, rise of populism (this is already happening and has happened).
In the grand scheme of things, this is about power. It is a conflict between those who have it and those who don’t.
It is a matter of choice. If we want to continue in the pattern of very few have more power and resources than the other 99% combined, then let us continue on the path we are on. This will lead to even more of it.
And for those of You who are saying that “This doesn’t concern me, my life is great, I’m making good money.”
For now, this is true but it is gradually changing and will change even further.
It is designed within this system of capitalism that the 1% who owns resources, companies, everything that is valuable, will get more and more richer. While the other side will get poorer and poorer, with less and less resources.
How to come out of this?
A short summary:
1. Raise Your fees (for now), ask for what You are worth, for the work that You are doing.
2. Do Your best to create a company that is profitable or have equity in the company You work for.
3. Invest in companies that are profitable or have a high chance of being profitable in the future.
4. Invest in land, real estate, nature.
5. Invest in digital assets, cryptocurrency.
6. Invest in renewable energy for Yourself. Meaning, have renewable energy on the land You live on. Make sure You can grow something on that land You have as well.
7. Build community with people You can trust (probably the hardest one of these) and invest together (very difficult but I believe we should move towards it).
What else?
Within those communities, there has to be a common understanding. This does not mean everyone has to agree with everyone else and live in equilibrium. Not possible.
This actually means that the community should have a common goal/idea to work towards. If I might give a suggestion, it should be along the lines of raising humanity’s consciousness, creating sustainable growth on this planet, learning, being open and curious about ourselves, the world, society, space, the universe, other species, other realms of existence, science, technology, spirituality, find higher meaning, etc.
But one of the core understandings should be that human beings are actually one. Meaning we are a race of beings and if we want to survive we need to work together. If we are to succeed in this endeavor, we have to become aware of ourselves to such an extent that our minds cannot bullshit us.
And be so open in our communication with each other that we always say what we mean, are open to feedback, painful feedback.
As well as are prepared to give it.
This would be a good start.
Ian Altosaar
