The Abundance of Scarcity

Material Abundance. Spiritual Poverty.

We live in a world where scarcity is abundant.

If you have spent your entire life growing up in an affluent nation, it is very easy to believe in abundance. The supermarkets are always fully stocked, the electricity rarely shuts off, and single-family homes are the norm. Under the surface, however, there are very few people whose lives are truly abundant.

There are different forms of abundance. In affluent nations, spiritual abundance has been traded for material abundance. It is a simple equation. The more stuff you have, the less time you have to take care of your soul.

Time is scarce.

Meaning is scarce.

Purpose is scarce.

Affluent nations live in a scarcity mindset without realizing it. We have so much, but there is an unfillable hole in the foundation. Material abundance and spiritual poverty, coexisting. This is what fuels consumer spending.

It is probably the greatest bait and switch in history.

Most people do not even realize how impoverished they are.

We (rightly) feel bad about complaining when our material lives are so good, knowing that this isn’t the case for most people. But, this ends up protecting the status quo. If no one complains, the system keeps chugging along.

What would happen to the global economy if the United States was a buddhist nation?

The engine of economic growth is permanent dissatisfaction.

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer believed that life is suffering because it simply consists of an endless series of desires. Once we get what we want, we are hard wired to simply want another thing. We are like cups that keep getting filled up and poured back out again.

The only true escape is spiritual. It is internal to us. We all possess the freedom to tap into spiritual abundance, but it requires first recognizing our impoverishment, and then taking the proper time to nourish and grow our souls.

Faith by itself is not sufficient. Religion by itself is not sufficient. We must become serious people. We must take our lives and our minds seriously.