Thank you for sharing, @erh.germany. You make many good points.
If I am not concerned with carrying water, planting and harvesting, then I am already on the next level of an existence which, if it were limited to planting and harvesting alone, would find its only meaning precisely in this and would shape its culture in such a way that it would make sense around these activities. We moderns no longer have this self-understanding.
I believe you captured it well here.
It is my worry, as an American, that our economic and commercial institutions in our country have lost sight these very vital activities through outsourcing and offshoring to the point that the everyday citizen doesn't understand how their basic needs are met - creating an complex and uncertain environment.
Our largest economic structures are built up around entertainment, technology, finance - which are relatively luxuries - but these tend to fall at the higher end of a pyramid, above and dependent on basic needs.
What else do I need beyond my basic needs? My answer is that I also create culture, that I like to experience art, crafting, music, dance, storytelling and sports activities and being in nature as meaningful. But to turn it into a business? That's the current status quo, isn't it?
I believe the introduction of the (for profit) business model (and thus the underlying principles, standards, norms) actually degrades the output of culturally-oriented organizations. We should, as society, collectively agree that the organizations who support a strong social fabric should not be dependent on profit-making. I see blockchain ecosystems playing an essential role here by providing consistent access to capital without explicitly requiring the production of material goods.
A community of people who are completely focused on their basic needs alone are actually a threat for the big business makers in this world. If we just feed and shelter one another and that would be all of what business in terms of money provides for it would weaken big businesses when people do not charge each other for other forms of activities.
Agreed. If society optimized the sharing economy well enough, we wouldn't need commerce.
There are no easy answers on the issue of profitmaking ... But privatizing hospitals and all facilities which provide for the care of people is not the way to go for a good mindset of citizens or communities.
I am sorry, I keep my answer short because I think we do agree in our world views.