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The following is based on a true story, but set in a different
world, time, and place. This story begins on October 12, 2000,
the one year anniversary of Y6B (world population of 6 billion).
Werk, the main character of our story is a chimpanzee. He is
a 27-year-old software professional who lives on the planet "Y"
not far from the center of the Monkey Way galaxy. Planet Y is
inhabited largely by chimps. The only other critters on the planet
are cockroaches, but they're always in hiding so we won't talk
much about them. The only thing you need to know is that the
roaches are less than 1% of the planet's population, and that
they own and direct almost everything on Y. The chimps never
see or hear the roaches; they can only pick up a vague scent
of them.
Werk is about to meet Buz, who is from another planet called "Is."
Werk discovers planet Is on the peel of a ripe banana, a tiny
blue speck about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.
Planet "Is" is inhabited by many races of animals and
exists in the 23rd century, 200 years ahead of planet Y in the
space-time continuum. Buz, a chocolate Lab, is a planetary life-directional-social-scientist.
Buz is 107 years old and still going strong. He has had a very
rewarding career as a researcher exploring new ways to better
life on his planet for all of it's citizens. Actually, Buz has
long been aware of Werk's planet Y, as he also has a deep interest
in "world games," a planetary developmental concept
developed by his great great grandfather Buz minster Fuller. In
studying the world game on planet Y, he realizes that it is about
to expand from its Phase 1 evolution. For most planetary civilizations
throughout the universe, typically, Phase 1 life-energy concerns
are focused on physical survival and nation-state power accumulation.
Moving beyond Phase 1 takes a drastic leap of faith. You see,
all new beings are taught from birth the rules of how their planet
works, therefore, they can only see their world as it always
was. On Y most new technological know-how is aimed at wealth
building activities and military weaponry. This is how its been
for thousands for years. The wealthier nations dedicate a substantial
portion of their national budget for weaponry development because
they have the most to protect. In Phase 1, the name of the game
is to guard your country's wealth, natural resources, and ideologies.
Sharing resources is usually only done in emergencies, each nation
is largely expected to survive independently and solve it's own
problems. Its been this way on planet Y for a very long time.
Buz has found through research that all of the inhabited planets
throughout the universe are playing by different world rules.
Planet Y is the second he's come across where all of it's citizens
have to "earn a living" as a main rule.
On planet Y, societal health is measured largely in terms
of economic growth. The intensity with which the planet plays
this economic "game" is rapidly increasing with the
growing population. The key principles of the world game are
expansion, competition, quantity, and power. The goal of each
country is to win the game using these four values or rules.
Every year, teams of accountants, financiers, economists, and
politicians count up how well things are going on planet Y. Anything
that contributes to the Gross Planetary Product GPP (total sales)
is regarded as a benefit to society in terms of boosting the
material standard of living for all that can afford it. Observing
planet Y from afar, its easier to recognize the outcomes that
accumulate slowly over time by playing this world game. The following
statistics are an update to the current world game situation:
- Span of time it took world population too
reach 1 billion: from the start of history until 1804
- Share of the world's population living in less developed countries:
80%
- Annual world population increase: 78 million (the size of San
Francisco every three days)
- Two of the world's largest countries striving to have an American
standard of living: India and China
- Country with 9 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world: China
- Median household income in America: $38,000
- Starting salary for most Information Technology professionals:
$50,000
- World population living on less that $2 US dollars per day in
1998: 2.8 billion
- Regions of the world living on less than $2 US dollar per day:
East, Central, and South Asia (excluding China), Eastern Europe,
Latin American, Caribbean, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle
East
- Percent of world population living in homes made of mud and straw:
30%
- Number of years it took the world population
to double from 3 billion to 6 billion: 40
- Maximum population the planet could support living at a prosperous
- European lifestyle: 2 billion
- Current population of China 1.25 billion, India 1 billion, USA
277 million (42% of the world total)
- Percent of goods the richest 20% of world's population consume:
86%
- Percent of goods the poorest 20% consume: 1.3%
- Amount American's spent in 1996 on chips, snacks, and soda beverages:
$16 billion
- American Movie box-office gross in 1996: 6 billion
- Estimated annual total needed to provide basic education for
everyone in the world: $6 billion
- Single country that consumes 25% of the planet's resources: America
America's share of the world population: 5%
- Percentage of Americans who have neutral to very negative career
satisfaction: 70%
- Percentage of American's living in suburbs and non-metropolitan
areas: 68%
- Number of American's who drove to work alone in a private vehicle
in 1990: 84,215,298
- Cost of producing one gallon of gasoline by nature in the form
of heat, pressure, and time in modern day electric utility dollars: $1 million per
gallon
- Average annual military defense budget of
America: $280 billion (plus allies $227 billion = $507 billion)
- Military defense budget of everybody else on the planet combined:
$15 billion
- Percentage increase to the U.S. GDP contributed by the imprisonment
industry in the 90's: 6.2% per year
Dollars added per year to the USA economy by high tech security
systems: 40 billion
- Estimated additional cost needed to provide universal access
to basic education, basic health care, reproductive health care
for women, adequate food, clean water, and safe sewers for the
whole planet: $40 billion
-Percentage of IT professionals who said they
would choose another field if they could relive their college
days: 40% (the highest regret level in any specific occupational
field)
- Minimum percentage of college seniors who have serious doubts
about the major they chose: 64%
Percentage of Americans who have more possessions than their
parents: 72%
- Total nationwide credit card debt: 600 billion
- Number of American families now declaring bankruptcy: one in
68, an all time high
- Top 3 drugs in prescription sales in 1996: Zantac (ulcer), Prilosec
(ulcer), Prozac (antidepressant)
- Percentage of Americans who report to be happier than their parents:
47%
- Dollars added per year to the American economy by divorce: $20
billion
- Percentage of Americans overweight: 55%
- Dollars added per year to the American economy by obesity related
health problems: $50 billion
- Percentage of American population who cut back spending to live
more simply: about 20%
- Percentage of those living more simply reporting to be happier
as a result: 85%
- Percentage of Americans who are passionate about their work and
living highly fulfilling lives: 10%
- Most common fear keeping people stuck in the wrong career: drop
in standard of living
- Top 2 career fantasies Americans would pursue if they had the
guts, time, and talent: "Travel the world to experience
new cultures and be a movie star"
Werk, being very bored in his work, is about to get to know
Buz and explore a new way of looking at his world. It appears
that on planet Y, the wealthiest nations are winning the game.
As with any game that isn't challenging anymore, the players
get restless. Looking for new ways to entertain themselves outside
of their daily work life is one of their favorite pass times.
It appears that Werk is an excellent player of the current world
game, he's won his share of the pie. Lately, he realizes the
day-to-day grind isn't fun anymore. He's not sure why he gets
up on the morning other than to pay his bills.
Buz:: Hello Werk, would you like to share a little about who
you are?
Werk: I'm an IT engineer, I write software code.
Buz:: Ahhhh . . . well tell me, why do you do write software code?
Werk: [looking very puzzled] I'm not really sure, but I'm on
a big secret project. Were designing a new super duper watchyamacallit.
Buz:: What is the watchyamacallit for?
Werk: To make sure our clients are happy, and that our company
profits.
Buz:: Is this something that you care about?
Werk: Well, lately I've been thinking a lot about this question.
I now realize that I really don't care about my work, I'm not
sure I ever did. It's not any fun. I wake up in the morning dreading
the workday.
Buz:: What prompted you to choose this line of work to begin with?
Werk: I have to admit, it's a hot field. The money is great,
and you know, it's prestigious and all that.
Buz:: So the lifestyle that comes with this career is important
to you?
Werk: Well . . . yeah, but something is still missing.
Buz:: Back when you were deciding on your career path, what goal
did you imagine this career would lead to?
Werk: That's easy. I wanted to be able to afford a comfortable
lifestyle, get married, buy a big home to raise a family, drive
a nice car, have money left over for savings, travel the world,
and live happily ever after. I've already achieved most of this.
Buz:: So this is what you care deeply about?
Werk: That's what life is all about . . . isn't it?
Buz:: Only if you say so.
For Werk, life is about living comfortably. This is his personal
"life game," an adaptation of the economic world game.
The goal of each citizen on Y is to win the game by the quickest
and most practical means. The comfort game is just one of many
personal life games played on Y. Other common life games include:
"Wonder Aimlessly," "Seek Security," and
"Procreate" to name a few. Interestingly, very few
on Y realize that they are even playing a game. This is just
the way it is on Y, and always has been. As you see, it possible
to be winning at your life game and still be unfulfilled. This
is Werk's enigma. Although he's winning at his life game, he
did not choose it intentionally. He assumed, observing all the
world game players around him, that that's what everyone should
do. Essentially, Werk got the outcome he was playing for, a comfortable
lifestyle. Now he feels tricked. He did everything he was supposed
to do, but is not near as fulfilled as he expected to be. This
is not unusual on Planet Y, as you can tell by the statistics.
What Werk doesn't know yet is that he has a choice, whether to
continue living by the current life game or to choose new one.
In his spare time, Buz: is also an inventor. Pursuing the legacy
left by his great great grandfather Bucky Fuller, he spent much
of his life thinking about how planet Is could support its whole
population at the highest standard of living possible. He calculated
that the whole world could live a wealthy lifestyle if all nation's
banned together to form a global community that appreciated its
rich diversity. To do this, he introduced a world game based
on the values of sustainability, cooperation, quality, and partnership.
Soon after, Planet Is stopped developing astronomically expensive
warring technologies, and instead, dedicated all worldwide scientific
know-how and passion toward pioneering new everyday living technologies
that use natural resources super efficiently. The citizens of
Planet Is now live in ways unseen before in the Universe. They
now "learn for a living," rather than "earn a
living." Their whole planet has become a playground for
everyone to appreciate and live fully. Buz would like to help
planet Y move forward, as he has done for his own planet, Buz
realizes that it's difficult to change a whole planet's way of
doing things. Sometimes, the best way is for each citizen of
the planet to change his or her own situation. Overtime, others
will catch on and want to join in.
Buz:: What's next for you, Werk? What's your plan to live a
more fulfilling life?
Werk: I've been looking into self-employment, especially in the
internet business. There's a good chance I can make my million
by age 30 and retire. This way, I don't have to work anymore!
Buz:: That's true, one way to gain your freedom is to strike it
rich. What are the chances of this happening?
Werk:?
Buz:: There's another way to live fully, and that's to choose
a career you really care about.
Werk: But that's my problem, I not sure. I don't know what's
going on out there in the world.
Buz:: Have you done your research to find out what does matter
to you on Planet Y?
Werk: Not yet . . but I would like having more meaningful work.
Buz:: Ahhhh . . . that's a very different way [life game] to live
your life. Are you completely sure you want to have work that
is personally meaningful to you?
Werk: Yes, but how will I know what is meaningful to me?
Buz:: Well, what would you like the outcome of your work to be?
Werk: Hmmm . . . I'd like to see the result of my work impact
the world in a positive way. [Werk wants to play a new life game,
one that impacts the world in a way that matters to him].
Buz:: OK, then what kind of results specifically?
Werk: I have a few ideas, but they all seem far-fetched.
Buz:: That's fine, list them all out on paper and prioritize them
in order of importance. Then, pick the top few ideas and begin
researching them more fully. Once you've done your research you
can decide which you more willing to stretch for.
Werk: You mean it's as simple as narrowing it down to the top
1 and choosing it? But how will I know it's the right one?
Buz:: Because you say so!
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