Our society has got it wrong: We are all of equal worth
Reflecting on my grandparents, capitalism, Egg McMuffins, and the unhealthy ladder we all seem to be climbing
Lola, Lolo, me, and my sisters
On my desk where I’m sitting, I have this picture of my lolo and lola looking cute and happy af near some bridge at sunset. And this pic, in combination with everything I’ve been observing around me lately, has got me reflecting about my life and the way our world works.
Let me explain.
To me, my lolo and lola were perfect. They were kind and sweet (actually, Lola was fierce and kind of mean haha), and they were two of my favourite people in the world. They had a big-ass international family, a multi-generational concrete house with an open-door policy, and a loving presence that extended beyond their small town in the Philippines.
My angels.
They were also farmers with sixth-grade education, they had little money and few possessions, and they certainly didn’t have any followers—OK, they passed before social media became a thing, but I’m trying to make a point.
My lolo and lola didn’t have any of the things that, here in the western world, we think we need to be worthy, which we often accumulate in order to feel better than others.
But still, to me, as I mentioned before, my lolo and lola were perfect. And it’s got me thinking: We are all of equal value in this world, and there is nothing we can do to be better than anyone.
Whether you’re a CEO or an intern, making millions or minimum wage, a doctor or a high school dropout, your worth and your right to life and love and happiness is the exact same as anyone else’s.
This has also been on my mind a lot lately because I’ve really been noticing in others—and in myself—that so many aspirations are not based on happiness or fulfillment or necessity. So many of our aspirations are based on moving up this imaginary and false societal hierarchy.
We all know people who pursued a career or higher level of education not because they needed the money or because they really cared about the work or studies, but because the added letters to their name made them feel better than.
How many of us dwell on our likes and followers and base our posts not on what we care about, but on what will get more double taps? We falsely think that more likes mean a greater amount of worth.
Why did Aunt Becky and all those other Hollywood parents cheat to get their kids into universities they didn’t earn spots in? Because we wrongly believe that the name of the school on our (and even our kids’) resumés somehow impacts our value.
I could go on and on with examples, but what it comes down to is that, even though we may not say it outright, most of us subscribe to this idea that our worth is based on our salaries, our job titles, our education, our number of followers etc. And we think we can increase our worth and be better than others by adding to our resumés, beefing up our bank accounts, and becoming more popular.
And guess what? We’re wrong. We are so wrong.
My grandparents had none of the things our society is obsessed with acquiring. And yet, they still had just as much worth and were just as entitled to full lives as the richest, most famous, educated, mansion-dwellers on the planet.
Do you think that God (or the universe or whatever) plopped us on Earth and said, “The more titles, money, and things these humans have, the more valuable they will be”?
Lol, no, of course not. Jesus did not say that, capitalism did.
And from what I’ve seen, the more we buy into this mindset that we’re on some kind of value ladder, the more impossible it is to be happy because there will always be more rungs to climb. Plus, it’s so easy to treat people poorly when we think our value is dependent on climbing higher than them.
J. Cole and I are sharing the same message lol.
I think we really need to realize the fact that there is no worthiness ladder. It’s time to burn that imaginary shit because our worth as humans is all the bleeping same.
We all just started out as sperm-egg combos (sounds like we were breakfast sandwiches lol), and we’re all going to decompose and turn into dirt. And during the space in between, we’re all just flesh and bones trying to have a good time during this short life.
I know it’s hard in our capitalist world, and I’m certainly not fully there yet—deep down, I probably identify more with the hierarchy than I do with the Egg McMuffin-equal-value-soil concept. But, honestly, if we could get to the point where we really believe this, everything would improve so much.
Humility would be our default and we would treat everyone with respect because we’d know that we’re all equal.
Hateful gossip would die down—because when we gossip, we’re really just trying to make ourselves feel better than the people we’re shit talking.
Our lives would be so aligned with our authentic selves since we’d do things because they’re the right thing to do, not because we falsely think they’ll make us more important than others.
Real talk, I think our world is pretty far off from even wanting to adopt this outlook, and I know I’ve got a long way to go myself. But in reflecting on our world’s problems, remembering the lovability of my lolo and lola, and understanding our identical origins and fate (egg sandwich and dirt, respectively), I hope someday we’ll be able to ditch this imaginary ladder and recognize once and for all that our worth is all the same.
What I’ve learned/some realizations:
Nobody is better than anybody and there is nothing you can do to be worthier than anyone else.
Frig, if we could all realize this, the world would be so much better.
If you think I’ve been sounding more woo woo lately, it’s because I’ve been listening to Oprah’s Super Soul Sundays. Ironic that a billionaire has taught me the content of this blog post.
I know I was talking about human sperm and human eggs, but like, I’m really wanting McDonald’s breakfast rn.
I LOVE McDonald’s breakfast.