I have long noted that “The Everything Bubble” has been used to describe our era’s financially unjustifiable malinvestment into the stock and bond markets, resulting in nosebleed over-valuations, that must correct again at some point. While certainly true and potentially catastrophic for the finances of persons, businesses and governments, that is too narrow a scope for EVERYTHING.
This morning’s line of thought started when I read the above linked article about “greenwashing” businesses and investment instruments to make them socially acceptable per today’s norms. To fail the litmus test of the day is to face investor withdrawal and societal boycott for “unacceptable” views or practices. When the loud cultural demand is for “green, ” carbon neutral, ESG (Environment, Social, corporate Governance), etc. then apparently you can just label yourself as such and go about your business under the false pretense in order to extract a benefit, or to satisfy a group with which you don’t agree but find too costly to oppose. Perhaps the demands and expectations are unreasonable and unjustified. Maybe they are coercive and silly. Maybe it is just a very loud minority that must be appeased. Maybe you just play along, hoping that the trend winds will shift soon. Maybe deceit is so baked into society that the default setting is to mislead others rather than operate under transparency. Maybe all are true. Maybe these forever extant, and often disguised, societal wars are just more technologically visible today – the wars for profits, prestige, power, the advance of personal preferences and agenda upon everyone else regardless of harms and costs. Caveman instincts with the new millennial toolkit.
The “washing,” the misrepresentation, the deceit is much more widespread than just within the financial sector. The “organic” foods example comes to mind. Food is all carbon-based, and so, literally, definitionally organic. But, we all know that those demanding organic foods (socially, or as a consumer) expect this to mean non-GMO, non-pesticided, environmentally friendly, or what not. But when the label is slapped on, some people will buy it who might not have. And others who might have actively boycotted or created a public relations issue now won’t… despite the false pretense of the label.
The spread of deceit can be seen as academically under-achieving kids are pushed through school and handed a diploma… despite their eighth grade reading comprehension. It’s the participation ribbon, the increasingly meaningless and devalued titles and degrees into their adulthood. This is a crux of failure that defines and corrupts our era – that of devaluing, or mis-valuing, EVERYTHING.
Today’s reality is that humans tolerate and fear calling out that which is a lie. We do it in our cultures, governments, finances, educational systems, professions, media streams, relationships. Why? To cheat and manipulate each other to our own benefit? Or because it is demanded by social, political and financial forces that would target us for speaking truth to power? Or because it is psychologically soothing and easier to lie to ourselves and others than to perform root analyses, develop improvement plans and act? Is it just the easy shortcut? Are we even aware that we are often frauds? What harm do we do to ourselves and others by playing along with those misrepresentations? And how large can the harms become when they are perpetrated and permitted on national and global scales? How much human misery can be traced back to “just going along” with the prevailing fads, distractions, manipulations and lies of the day? Are we a planet of the self-deluded or delusional?
How can humans progress when real value, reliable information and solid foundations cannot be discovered, promoted, shared and built upon? How far from true North, or precise reality (as it can best be discovered), have we drifted in every aspect of our existences – individually and societally? How much of a value bubble currently exists? The better question is, “what is not a value bubble (aka a lie, misrepresentation, exaggeration,…)?” Maybe nothing is spared. Degrees, credentials, currencies, “authorities,” “experts,” “journalism,” “friends,” investments, debt and derivatives into the quadrillions of dollars. What percentage of each category of Life is over-valued, misrepresented, in a bubble that is due to pop, is a lie, is a malinvestment of resources, and potentially causes harm?
I do not take the nihilist view that there is no good, no truth, no value. Maybe it’s a realist (or Stoicist?) view that Good, Truth and Value exist but not to the degree and in the places you would be led (or lead yourself) to believe. These must be mined, filtered, culled, discerned, discriminated, discovered. Then appreciated, valued, promoted, nurtured. That takes work, thought, action, analysis, energy, determination, self-education, investigation. (Lots of lists, there. Sorry. But, get to work!)
The obstacles to such a tedious process may be simply working to feed oneself and family, meeting the basic needs of life, and left with little time or energy for anything else. Additionally, we are often lulled into complacency by the instant gratifications of tech, low-yield distractions, feel-good substances which offer the easier path to pass the days. And certainly, there is a purposeful effort in many Lies and Liars to obfuscate details, designs, costs and consequences. Those are the nefarious parasites among us: individual, corporate and government.
Despite the costs inherent in the process of discerning true values, the costs of operating under mis-valuation and misrepresentation are incalculable across every aspect of life. In addition to the potential financial wastes and losses, how much of our lives may be misspent pursuing that which we misunderstand? Investments, relationships, career, dogma, politics, emotion, anger, fear, inappropriate reactivity, poor decisions, lost opportunity for self-development. The future cannot be seen. Our best efforts to prepare for it are to use good information now to make decisions (investments) towards it. Misvalued information, investments and paths now can only lead to future loss, regret and pain. What is the correlation between today’s lie and the theft of tomorrow’s peace?
As we look about us, we might ask ourselves what part of that which touches me is real and of value? Who and what around me adds value rather than depletes and attempts to deceive me? What (and who) is in a bubble and needs to be reset to true valuations? Where am I inappropriately invested in time, money, energy? (Maybe I sit at my computer, clicking around, trying to figure out the world too much?!) Which information sources can be trusted, and to what degree? Which labels and narratives are just that… without substance or justification? How are they being used to mislead, exploit, control or derive an unjust profit?
To whom do I owe transparency, openness, honesty, value? Certainly to those with whom I have made or desire that reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationship – personally and professionally. Most uncomfortably of all, I owe it to myself. Certainly, it is not owed to those that would harm, rob, coerce and defraud me. Those I must separate myself from, and perhaps work to expose.
Ultimately, the valuation problem distills to a demand for Honesty and Truth – basic existential human values – just to begin an assessment, which will still be subject to human error, a best guess. The disregard for those values across our species has led to the mis-valuation of EVERYTHING. These tenets, which are under-valued as simplistic and optional aspects of a disposable Morality, serve as supports for the fundamental fabric of our existence, our relationships, economics, and human progress.
Spend the time and energy to find and offer true valuations such that your investments of time, energy, money and relationships provide a return rather than a loss, a fulfillment rather than regret.