The yin and yang problem I face
Just before my weekend was due to start, after our last class today, a student for whom I have great respect came up to me.
"I am struggling with your classes, in ethics you build our hopes, create desires for life and give us a feeling to go out and conquer the world."
High praise! I take it! I have done something right!
"But then, when we have economics classes with you, we leave the class mostly depressed about the world".
So why do they feel this way?
I'm at home now, sitting on my couch with a nice drink in my hand, thinking about this question.
The course elements for this year are as follows:
Ethics:
- The difference between luck and happiness
- Happiness in ancient and modern times
- Reward systems and hormones for happiness
- Serotonin: Why it is so important and how to get it in a healthy way
- Happiness: The easy cheat way (drug abuse) and the hard rewarding way (rewards)
- 12 Rules for Living by Jordan B. Peterson
- Is there a meaning to life?
- An example of the meaning of life
Econ:
- What is growth and how do we measure it (GDP)?
- Why growth is important
- The growth explosion of the last 150 years
- What is a business cycle?
- Booms and busts and where we might be now
- The 3 biggest problems facing Germany right now (taxes and spending, bureaucracy, demographic change)
- The welfare state, what it provides, what it costs
- The 4th unmentioned problem, money and inflation
- The solution, responsibility and bitcoin
So maybe you can already see the theme:
In ethics, I choose freedom and responsibility.
Only responsibility can set you free. And freedom rewards you with meaning, and that is followed by joy.
In economics, I show you how human innovation has created wealth and growth. How good their lives are compared to what was. But where the problems lie and how messed up the situation is.
I try to find a way for both classes to merge into one in the end.
Yes, the government is screwing you, the welfare state is completely broken, but there is a way out: your personal responsibility.
Take care of yourself, your health (body and mind), your freedom and security (financially with Bitocin).
Do not give this responsibility to anyone else! It is your duty!
So of course they are devastated when they see the chart I put up every year showing how much the government spends each year on social welfare.
They get depressed when they see how many people have to work for other people's pensions.
And that the debt is growing and the government is trying to pay it through inflation, destroying their savings.
But there is hope! They don't know it yet.
Because in January we reach the point in the curicula where they get lessons on Bitocin.
What it is, why it is so cool and how to get and use it.
So I hope they suffer through it with me and make it to the bright side next year.
"The darkest hour is just before dawn"
Final thought
I understand why they feel depressed and I will think about whether I will do this class the same way next year.
Sometimes it has to hurt for people to be ready to learn something new.
But I don't want to lose them to hopelessness along the way.
So maybe it's a yin and yang thing.
Maybe on the one hand you show them what they could become and on the other hand you show them what the world could become if we do not take responsibility for ourselves.
Please give me your thoughts and feedback! It would be greatly appreciated.