The Psychology Of Abundance Vs The Psychology of Scarcity

Everything is inevitably right on schedule. There is a massive psychological shift when talking about what to close shifts to opening things back up. As predicted, Easter was the peak and now we begin the process of getting back to "normal," but the old normal is gone and the new normal will have conditions. I have already explained why the summer will cause viral expressions to decline. I am now seeing more and more articles mentioning this even though none of them understand sunlight as natural electro-magnetic frequency. 

As things begin to open up, the temptation will be to join the world in a massive exhale where everyone celebrates making it through these tough times. Only the wise will reject this temptation and realise that when the sun begins to set in the fall and the tech roll out is completed, there will be a massive upswing in viral expression leading to some very extreme measures. 

This is very clear to me. However, I'd like to take a look at why so many others will fall into the trap of unwarranted optimism. People have a desired outcome, one that always works in their favor. The greater the desire, the less able the mind is able to look at a thing, especially when the reality involves loss or sacrifice. This is standard human psychology. Everyone has a hope program to cope with the inevitable reality we all face. Some people default to the religious program where Jesus comes down to save them. Others dive into hedonism to distract themselves from reality. I prefer to plan for the worst and hope for the best. This allows me to maintain my hope program but to put it in its proper place,  below reason. I am not pushing pessimism but I am saying there is strong evidence for why I believe that things will not get better once winter hits. 

I currently live in California where the temperatures are stable and the weather is good year round. Property values seem to only increase and improve over time. This caters to what I call the "psychology of abundance" here in California. The desirable coast and ideal weather create a money tree that produces fruit naturally without any competition or struggle. The problem becomes a conversation about how to split up all the money that grows on the inherent money tree (socialism). The social problems have a focus on appearances as basic needs are met so shallowness can permeate the culture with a focus on feelings and opinions instead of survival. The pros of this is you can live a very easy life if you play your cards right. The downside is that you get soft. Your brain becomes accustomed to the idea that things only get better over time. When struggle comes it directly conflicts with this psychology of abundance. Along with this comes unconscious entitlement. When things go too right for too long people begin to feel that this is how the universe is structured, and if something happens that doesn't align with this, then the universe has wronged the person in their eyes. It makes the reality of ageing and finally death a major conflict within a person. 

I am not from California. I grew up in upstate New York, and then lived in small town Indiana for 10 years through college and my young adult years. Unlike California, there is no inherent money tree in either of these places. There is no psychology of abundance. Growing up in the city of Rochester, NY, I was given a psychology of scarcity. This is a psychology that says things don't just work out and life is hard. The major problem is not what to do with the wealth but how to compete and cooperate to survive through creativity (which is true capitalism in terms of economics, despite the new definition of capitalism equating to greed). 

These places are not concerned with feelings, they are concerned with survival. The major downfall of this psychology is a lack of long term perspective. If you believe that things will only get worse over time you are less likely to save for retirement, make long term investments, or have the patience that comes from thinking that things will get better. The benefit is that when things get hard, these people are more equipped mentally to survive. They are more comfortable with the difficult situations. This is the difference between street smarts and knowledge learned in a class room. 

Psychology of scarcity folk don't shine when things are going well. Instead, they come across as uncomfortable and negative, wondering when the bottom will fall out. However, they are the people you want to be around when life gets tough. They stay calm as they are comfortable with being uncomfortable. They can see things as they are in times of struggle because their vision isn't as clouded by a desired outcome or subconscious entitlement. 

I see this as the subconscious difference between the ideology of liberals and conservatives, and I can make a case that each one is right when the ideology is applied to the proper location and context. Liberals hate Trump because he is a jerk and conservatives love him because he is a jerk. Why? Because the psychology of abundance has the luxury of concerning itself with appearances. The psychology of scarcity wants someone who pushes appearances aside and challenges/ competes without apology. This makes Trump appear strong to conservatives. 

Language influences culture and this is why the left is so focused on political correctness and conservatives often go out of their way to be politically incorrect. The contrast is based on the definition of words. Words are simply containers for meaning. Some focus on the container and the emotion the container invokes where others disregard the container and cut straight to the meaning with no regard for feelings. The psychology of abundance has the time to focus on appearances, where the psychology of scarcity needs to get to the point; no time for appearances. 

The negative extremes of both positions are hedonism vs masochism or in other words the pursuit of pleasure vs the pursuit of pain. 
The pleasure perspective would wonder why would you ever want to go someplace that is cold while the other would know that character is built not from doing what brings pleasure but from overcoming difficult obstacles. In the case of the psychology of scarcity the highest goal is not pleasure but character which is far more useful for survival. Both positions exist on a spectrum. No one is absolutely one or the other but there are clear tells about which position you hold. Both contain risk. The psychology of abundance risk starving when hard times come and the psychology of scarcity risk wasting the sunny day thinking about the winter. 

Like most subconscious psychologies, people tend to surround themselves and interact primarily with people who validate their same psychology. The psychology of abundance will group together and point out the psychology of scarcity's inability to make long term investments. The psychology of scarcity will group together and point out how entitled and soft the psychology of abundance is. Both will build a world that validates the perspective they have instead of taking an honest look at the pros and cons of both positions. 

You may be thinking there are tons of conservatives in California or liberals in Rochester. This is also true. I am saying that the polarization of the parties has a psychological underpinning and I am making generalities to help communicate the point. In my experience living in California, there lots of conservatives with underlying views that are rooted in the psychology of abundance. I will say that the conservatives that have the psychology of plenty don't spend much time with conservatives who have a psychology of Scarcity as I believe the psychologies of abundance and scarcity run deeper than even political party affiliation. Of course this is also true for the liberals as all these points show the equal and opposite nature of the two positions.  This has a lot more to do with the location, economics and life experiences a person has, especially in early development, than anything else. 

I realize that because I was raised in the psychology of scarcity, I have not done nearly as well in California as I see others who have been immersed in the psychology of plenty. I had opportunities but didn't have the patience to let them grow slowly and bare fruit. Instead I picked the fruit before it was ripe. At the same time as I acclimated to California I began to learn and have improved. However, I also found myself getting soft. My psychology of scarcity remained dominant and that is why I have spent my time inducing suffering to keep myself hard, believing that at some point things would get worse. I have been fasting, learning, preparing and using self imposed discipline. I have gotten rid of things as to not grow attached and entitled believing that at some point those things would be taken from me. Knowing that everything rusts so storing up treasure here is foolish. 

​The Ant and the Grasshopper, alternatively titled The Grasshopper and the Ant (or Ants), is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 373 in the Perry Index.[1] The fable describes how a hungry grasshopper begs for food from an ant when winter comes and is refused. The situation sums up moral lessons about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future.

The Ant and The Grasshopper seems to spell it out. 
Now that things are settling down there will be those that think you are foolish for making such sacrifices over the summer and they are the same people who will suffer in the winter. Know what time it is and be wise. 
Reject the foolish questions and warnings that the ignorant grasshoppers in your own life give you. They don't understand that suffering will come sooner or later the only question is will it be suffering that is chosen by you or imposed on you. 

Now that we have real problems in the form of a global pandemic causing death and economic collapse, I see many of the people of California still neurologically incapable of thinking things will get any worse. Unable to shift into survival mode, let go of attachments, or get comfortable with ideas of scarcity. I am so eager to get back to a place that is cold and hard because I have prepared my mind and body to be comfortable in a place of struggle. A place where today matters more than tomorrow, because I can see that the more the psychology of abundance dominates the mind, the less reasonable the conclusion about the current situation is. Now is not an ideal time for the psychology of abundance. This goes way beyond 5G or non-native EMF. This is a story about truth verses lies. It is about authenticity vs the fake appearance of things. This is a time when it is more important than ever to speak your truth and own it. 

Both psychologies have pros and cons. They are only good or bad based on the situation you find yourself in. Going into the fall and winter of 2020 is the time to shift into the psychology of scarcity in order to survive. Those that work and plant now will harvest in the fall and survive the winter. Those that sit in the sun and refuse to make sacrifices will find themselves suffering in the winter. The desired outcome distracts from the reasonable conclusion. 

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It's time to get real - 
Life may be putting some pressure on you. This is your chance to have your true character revealed. What is your essential nature? Are you drawn to the hard truth or the simple fake lie that impersonates truth. 
Only the strong can reject a warm cozy lie for cold hard truth. 

Live life like you are writing an amazing story for the character that is you because you are. If your story is a bad one it is no ones fault but your own.
Embrace personal responsibility.

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