Broadly, I think we can visualise human organisations on two poles of a spectrum. Predatory and eudaimonic•. Eudaimonic societies enable people to live genuinely good lives. Genuinely good lives are made of essentials: health, relationships, security both financial and physical, safety, intelligence, basic morality, and so on.
Predatory societies, in stark contrast, simply take human potential from some, to give it to others. No real gains are created. What is the most likely configuration of such an antisocial contract? To take from the vulnerable and give to the powerful of course. That much you probably already see. Here’s what you don’t.
Bad Words
The Predatory Society–Rationing Eudaimonia
Umair Haque
* The prefix eu means "good" in Greek. Daimon has no direct correlate in English but the general idea is "spirit" as in being "in good spirits." For Aristotle eudaimonia signified happiness as fulfillment of both human and individual potential, with human potential being understood as the "spiritual" aspect that characterizes humans. Thus material satisfaction and physical pleasure are insufficient to yield abiding fulfillment, which comes from living a full life, that is, living a good life in a good society. Then the questions arise, what is the good life and what is a good society.
