Acting authentically in the face of survival

[Annik]

I recently had a conversation that filled my head with fuck.
EDIT: This is an existential topic.

We have to have money to survive in this world. There is no getting around it. We need money for food, housing, clothing, and everything else under the sun. To get that money, we often have to do things we don't want to or wouldn't do otherwise. This holds especially true in the current economy. As an example, let's say you're trying to go through school. It's likely that you'll need to take up a job, maybe even two. Instead of going to college just to focus on your studies as you might want, you have to work to feed yourself. Having a job (and furthermore, not being able to choose a job you really want to work at due to slim pickings or lack of experience) is not exactly authentically you, but is a necessity.

Which brings me to the topic I'd like to discuss. Is it even possible to act in good faith while in such a system? How can one be authentic when we have to worry about survival? Does it really count as being authentic if you're trying to be as true to yourself as possible?

As a side discussion: How could this change? Would something like the Venus Project really work?


To help understand my gobbly-gook, Hovik further explains the context in which we're viewing the topic:

By authentic, Annik means affecting one's own choices. In a world where one is forced to survive, one is not being true to one's own desires and authentic motives. In every action I make, I am free to choose for myself what I wish to do, and at no point can I say that I have no ability to do so. However, when one is forced to survive, his or her available avenues of choice are limited, and therefore one does not act as though they were completely free.

This is a topic that I think Star Trek: TNG touched on nicely. In their time, money doesn't exist, and people are free to live to their own affected ideal. They needn't worry about survival.

This then gives rise to the question, can a person truly be free if he or she must devote time to surviving?

MOAREDITZ: I just want to tack on that I believe a society torn away from the need to survive would have to have a lot of help from technologies to produce goods and do maintenance. We'd have to go fully automatic on a lot of things. Please reference the Venus Project for more information as to how such a world would be.