Libre Magazine

Ever wondered who draws the highest premium from life as a whole, measured in terms of living ‘within’ each moment, in the current (present) state and time of reality. Many may associate wealth with such a reality, and would conclude in favor of the rich. I would note otherwise, and crown the poor with such prestige and success. Consider a world, where 3 broad tiers of economic standing exist: the rich, the middle class and the poor.

It can be argued, that the elitist block, the rich category spend a large crunch of their energy focusing on the past, the vacations they may have spent, the time they spent in achieving what they may believe to be the grander things in life. Let alone, other distractions developed through the technology revolution (for example), especially information technology such as television, computers and the other dividends such as unbounded dreams, aspirations and perception of human devised reality associated with such activities and more. This may also be a reality faced by the middle class.

This tier spends a major part of its time, thought and practice planning and living in the future.

Whether in terms of a career they may want to achieve, a battle they may want to overcome, a qualification they may desire, a deadline they have to meet, or a goal which gives meaning to their life; it is all looking ahead. A major crux of the life dynamic is based towards a futuristic approach and although we pass through the moments of each day, we merely live, feel and think through them- how often to we enjoy the moment in its present state? Even at times as we may realize the present state, the moments are short lived, and soon after, it all begins again. When in school, we spend most of our time planning and attaining targets for college, which once achieved translates into university, after university it leads into work and then the goals and aspirations out of work and eventually we hit the end of the tunnel – where life seems short and a photographic summary. Is this really a surprise? Maybe not, as we barely live within our lives, we live through them- juggling from one mind set to another, drawing notions of priorities, goals and ambitions as our nutrition.

How often over meals or celebrated occasion, do we talk about the very present? Most interestingly, if we did so, we probably would not know what to talk about, would we? The world would present itself in a different manner? Hence we may need to re-order our mind set and its related attributes, yet again.

The above reality is further nurtured by the intellectual persona, tailored by the notion of the knowledge economy in recent years, which in the main stream associates progress and achievement with thought, development and vision. It is very seldom that you achieve much without vision, perspective and a futuristic outlook- all of which take you away from the very present. Other points based on psychological, social, emotional factors can also be made.

Now lets consider the poor, who lives the day in its present form, morning to night he/she spends a major crux of his/her life meeting the day to day needs and realities. Very rarely do they have time to aspire and feel for the future, they are the ones who life in its present face. They are the ones who live in its pure moment, who live life in its given face. Hence, are they drawing the greatest premium from life? Some would argue that such a life may not be the prettiest or happiest version of its face. However, once we get beyond the basic needs, what is the happiest version anyway? Acceptable wisdom tells us, money does not buy happiness (scientifically proven), at least not over the long run and not for the person looking to draw happiness from life in true terms. If it did, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet wouldn’t be contributing their life line to the cause of the world, not at their peak anyway.

Yet unfortunately, our society classifies success with the size of our pockets, maybe one day we can develop a system where the persona, being and realism drives the success of nations and the world.
Further, in terms of measurement, Sex is probably one of the most ‘in-present’ categorized activities, measured in terms of physical, emotional and mental presence (generally- even under a non-sober state) or a combination of the two. Therefore, can different activity levels across different tiers of economic and social blocks defined above, be used to draw on the above hypothesis? Maybe so, but for now, if nothing else, I would crown the poor with such success.

Let me clarify, that I am not falling into the old rhetoric of poor but happy. I am discussing ‘the premium of life’ as a tool of presence. Because, if presence was not important, we would not be concerned about life expectancy levels, would we? So even though we may have raised the international bar of life expectancy based on numbers, we may have reduced and complicated its reality on actual terms?

The Idea is based on a perception provided by a sociologist in a book a few years ago. I came across the book while at the airport and unfortunately I cannot recall the name of the author.