The Four Pillars of Societal Contribution

The value that an individual has on society can be broken down into four pillars. The four pillars are production, education, community, and morality. These are the Four Pillars of Societal Contribution.

Pillar # 1: Production

Production is the most important of the four pillars. While this is true, it is not capable of functioning at a high level without the other pillars. The productivity of a person can be further divided into three main sub categories:physical, intellectual, and creative capability.

Physical Productivity

In terms of production, physicality can further be divided. The different realms of physicality are work ethic, strength and endurance, and mental resilience.

Work ethic relates to the amount of time and effort one puts into their task at hand. Effort is just as important to the time one puts in. Therefore, if one is efficient, they can amplify the amount of work that is done over a period of time by intensifying the effort.

Strength and endurance requirements manifest differently in terms of profession and trait. For example, security jobs (law enforcement/military) require high levels of strength and endurance in order to complete the job to standard. Manual labor jobs also require higher levels of strength and endurance to complete. Both manual labor and security jobs are necessary to have a civilized society, thus, society needs a certain amount of their individuals to be physically fit.

Mental resilience is an element of the physicality of production. Mental resilience directly correlates to the amount of time and effort one can put into their work. Those with low mental resilience do not advance in professions, they procrastinate more, do not tolerate stress as well, and can become a burden on those around them.

Intellectual Productivity

Intellectuality is extremely important for success in productivity. This idea relates to the time and effort aspect of work ethic as previously defined. As effort intensifies production, knowledge of the task at hand guides effort to success. Effort that is placed in the wrong direction, regardless of the variable of time, could have no effect on a gain in production. Thus, knowledge is necessary to have the utmost of production and is sometimes necessary to have any production whatsoever.

Creative Productivity

Creativity is a distinguishing ability of humanity and a cornerstone of the capitalization on productivity to society. The ability to create new technology and ideas is imperative to the advancement of our species. It is also quite possible that it could lead to the extinction of the species. For the purpose of this text, creativity applies as a positive virtue of creating new goods, ideas, and technology that further society and production.

Pillar # 2: Education

While production is the most valuable pillar to society, it would hardly exist without the pillar of education. Education drives the other pillars, particularly the advancement of production and morals. There are two main aspects of the purpose of education. The first is to promote humans to not repeat negative happenings that have occurred throughout history. The second is to further technical abilities across all fields that allow for technological development.

The ability for a society to avoid the action of repeating negative occurrences that have been exhibited in history is monumental. This is often overlooked and one of the leading reasons, if not the leading reason, that societies fail and self-destruct.

A good educator also points out flaws in the current society that will fail. This may be the single most important aspect of one’s value to society. Very few people ever do this. If they do, they do not educate in a manner that makes others listen and change their view to avoid inevitable destruction and misery. Historians play a monumental role in this realm.

The second aspect of education is particular to the advancement of specific skills. This also relates to technological advancement as a whole. This acts as a continuum of education and allows for each generation and new worker to avoid having to “reinvent the wheel”. It is important to educate successors on the vast knowledge one acquires to perpetuate an increase in adeptness in a trade. This again, relates directly to productivity. Education allows one to develop technology and skill sets quicker. Advancements in technology increase productivity.

Pillar # 3: Community

The pillar of community is often overlooked. This allows more “human” traits to be revealed. These traits are necessary for human contentment. Allowing one’s persona to have an outlet and enjoy things such as company is necessary to living a “wholistic” life. A positive aspect of community that gives benefit to society is charitable actions. Charitable actions give positivity to all persons involved in the interaction.

Security is also an aspect of community. One who keeps a community safe, or secure, allows for the other pillars to exist. Without a secure setting, production, education, and morality will be hindered in their advancement. Depending on the severity of the insecurity it is possible that one or more of the pillars is not only hindered but commences to reverse. This is where law enforcement, military, and other emergency responders exist in this model. For without them, society would collapse in a plethora of ways. It is to be noted that providing security to those who are detrimental to society is a negative contribution through the lens of societal progression though may be necessary to uphold a moralistic standard or code.

Pillar # 4: Morality

Morality is a unique pillar in terms of the value of an individual to society. Morality is a value that must be upheld at a constant rate in order to have a constant positive affect on society. Other pillars may be portrayed in an inverse manner and still have positive impact. Morality is not exhibited the same way. If your productivity and educational value are high but the mortality is low, your input into society is still low.

Contrary, if your educational value is high but productional value is low, if your morals are in alignment, you may have a positive impact to society. If morality is low, then your contribution will be low or negative to society. Morality is essential and a necessity in this model. There is one exception described below that can be summed up by having a positive effect through “happenstance” regardless of low morals.

It is imperative that one stays away from actions they know to be detrimental; this is the first step to being moral. It is also to be noted that if your production or educational value is high, and morality is low, it is quite possible that you could have a destructive impact on society. With power in the pillars of education and production, it grants the ability to have the reverse impact on society and be chaotic. High power in one of these pillars amplifies the effect on society. It is also to note that it is possible, but unlikely, that someone low in morals and high in one of the other discussed pillars still has a positive impact on society. This would occur out of happenstance and the manifestation of the individual’s vices not having an impact on their educational or production output.

Morality, for the purpose of this text, is having one’s actions aligned with virtuous behavior regardless of the current political, social, or governmental situation.

These fundamental pillars must coexist in order for society to function and thrive. One’s individual worth to society can be determined on their collective advancement and production. In order to have any worth whatsoever to a society one must produce more than they consume. Production can come in the form of any of the four pillars. It is common and likely that the form of production will change throughout life. It is imperative that as one ages and production or community value declines, that they focus on the educational pillar or community pillar if applicable. Generally, with age comes knowledge. It is possible and may become a necessity for people’s only societal input to be through the educational pillar. This can still make a person of great positive worth.

Relating to the previous idea, it is worth noting that the further one contributes in the pillars of production, education, or community, the less they must contribute in the other pillars to still hold value. As previously mentioned, it is to note that morality is viewed as a constant necessity for positivity to society. It is not a standalone pillar for contribution to society. It is also important to mention that one could be positive to society without having fulfilled the moral pillar, but this would be considered to occur by happenstance or a random happening. As we live in a world of possibility not just probability, it is deemed possible. I also would like to reiterate that a lack of morals could amplify a negative effect in combination with any of the other pillars.

Value of Family

Family is an important aspect on many levels and worthy of mention in one’s value to humankind, but it is left out of the pillars for valuable reason. Though rearing children and the structure of the family has many benefits it is important at a micro level and not through the lens of societal demands. It is worthy of mention due to how intertwined the fields of study are. To focus on the “family,” as important as it is, would entice one to lose track of the particular focus of an individual’s worth to society.

May it be clear that a husband and wife who raise their kids to be contributory to society, are beneficially impacting society. If all one ever does is raise productive children, maybe one can erase their own debts to society.

Crime and the Four Pillars

Crime is prevalent throughout all societies and all mankind due to human nature. The ability to commit various crimes is present amongst all humans. In theory, crime is not a necessary element to society. It does not hold an intrinsic value to society and societal progression. Crime is inevitable. That which is inevitable is necessary. This is true for it cannot be any other way if something is truly inevitable.

Those who commit crimes that have a direct or indirect negative impact on the four pillars, deduce their worth to society. All criminal actions are not equal in their deduction. It is possible, however, that a criminal action has little or no impact on society. It is also possible that criminal action benefits society.

True worth in society

While many have worth to society, very few people are of any true worth to society. True worth is defined as having a value that extends beyond one’s current space and time. This is a person who makes necessary revelations to the prolongment of mankind. Mankind is headed towards demise, just as any species is. As humans, we can only experience the universe through the lens that we are given and that is humanity. If mankind ceases to exist, the human experience ceases to exist. As long as man walks the face of the earth, or other celestial beings, our history and stories stay alive through one another. Someone with true worth increases the longevity of this experience.

This is generally completed through technological advancements in the realm of scientific studies. Though, it does take a plethora of people for technological advance cannot occur without the functioning of a diverse array of cogs. This diverse array of cogs is displayed in a diverse array of people and minds. While very few have true value, the human experience is none the less important, for it is all we truly have. There is no value in its prolongment if it is not experienced.

People who are detrimental to society

There are people who are worthless to society. Worse yet, there are people who are detrimental to society. This can be looked at in terms of consumption versus production. In this sense production can be defined as creating commodities in terms of the pillars of production, education, and community. It is to be remembered that morality is considered a constant, and one can be worthless or detrimental while still holding high qualities of moralities. There could be an exception to this in extreme circumstances of exquisitely high moral standards that enlightened a high sense of morality in a community that in terms affected production positively. It is also to be noted, in certain circumstances such as illness, having low production would not lower one’s morality.

Those who consume more than they produce are considered detrimental to society and have a negative impact on the economy. These people are worthless to society and a hindrance to the economy, this usually results in being detrimental to society. It is widely acceptable to produce in certain aspects and consume in others. This is common practice and allows one to be beneficial to society without having to excel in all pillars. Again, production solely in morality does not allow consumption in the other three pillars without being worthless to society.

It is to be noted that consumption of the pillar of education is unique. Education is generally not found in a tangible source therefore consumption of education can be digested disproportionately to its production without negative recourse to society. It is also important that education is received in high quantity and quality.

Value of entertainment in society

Entertainment is not necessary to a society in terms of socioeconomic progress and stability. Like crime, entertainment can be found in every society for it is part of human nature. Thus, if it is inevitable, it is necessary. It cannot be any other way.

The value of entertainment to society is also unique. Unlike the promotion of the four pillars, entertainment focuses on the balance of the psyche through leisure and other means. This appears apparent for human contentment and therefore can be a worthwhile endeavor. In order for entertainment to have value it must be traded as a good or commodity. If the entertainment is solely a shared experience, and not a traded commodity, it can not have a beneficial effect on the economy and generate an economic output. It is also to be noted that an overconsumption of entertainment can have a negative impact unlike the consumption of education. Therefore, an overproduction of entertainment could become detrimental to society yet some production is necessary.

Value of the medical field in society

The services of the medical field are a commodity such as any other service. In terms of economic productivity, medical treatment is only positive if it treats people who are productive in society. On the contrary, if the medical field treats people who are worthless or detrimental to society, then the impact on the society is negative. The economic value of the medical field is equivalent to the value of the people that it treats. The medical field can have value in another way. That is if developments are made that benefit productive people in the future especially those with true value.

If production has no consumption than the overproduction has no value. The exception to this would be if the overproduction can be stored for future benefit and use.

The uneven distribution of value in society

Mankind varies to an extreme degree in the distribution of value to society. The dispersion can be divided as follows: those who possess true worth, the few who disproportionately affect society in an extremely positive way, the masses who are positive to society, the masses that are negative to society, the few that disproportionately affect society in an extremely negative way, and those who possess true destruction.

The most important category are the ones who possess true worth. These people are so rare that many societies may never have a man with this trait. The contributions of this person are so important that they appear miraculous. Men in the following category, the few who disproportionately affect society in an extremely positive way, have contributions that are remarkable yet replaceable. Those with true worth have contributions that are irreplaceable.

The few who disproportionately affect society in an extremely positive way are the men who embody all four pillars to the utmost extreme. These men greatly produce more than they consume and are fundamental to society not falling to turmoil and failure. Is it also to note that one who possesses unequivocal strength in any of the four pillars may fall into this category. People who fall into this category may produce more than the masses combined.

The masses who positively affect society are the backbone of having a civilized society.

The masses that negatively affect society are detrimental and worthless. They create social rift and economic strife. They continue to survive through those who positively contribute to society.

The few that disproportionately affect society in an extremely negative way have little to no redeeming qualities. They produce lowly on all four pillars societal contribution.

Those who possess true destruction are an extremely rare phenomenon. Ones who fall in this category are not only worthless to society in terms of the four pillars of societal contribution, but are reversely impacting society through extreme negative value to society. This negative value is so amplified that chaos and destruction ensues. If widespread chaos and destruction do not manifest, then the person does not possess true destruction. To create this level of negativity it is most likely that the person possessing true destruction is most likely adept.

People who positively or negatively affect society

The majority of people fall into the masses who either positively or negatively affect society. The division between the two groups is relatively even. The few who disproportionately affect society in either an extremely positive or negative way are quasi-rare but visible. They are not commonplace but are of the knowledge of the masses. These two categories, again, are rather evenly dispersed in terms of population. Those who possess true worth and true destruction are so rare and randomly occurring that they cannot be equally proportionate for they are so unpredictable.

Social services

Those who indulge in social services are more often than not, negative influences on society. Social services, in this context, are services provided to one by the state due to their inability to provide themselves. It is extremely difficult for one that is reliant on the state for survival to be a positive element of society. It is also necessary that those who are reliant on the state are in terms reliant on those who are productive in society. This must be because the state is reliant on the people who encompass it.

Allowing one to become dependent on the state is generally the downfall of that person’s worth. Once they have become accustomed to leaching off the backs of the positive contributors, it is unlikely that they will produce a contribution to society that is greater than the net consumption they exhibit.

Through the lens of societal progression, social services are nothing more than an allowance of people who are detrimental to society to have an over consumption in comparison to their underproduction. It is to note that it is very difficult to live a virtuous life when your existence is linked to an uneven consumption of other’s products. These products are fed by the hand of the state and taken from the producers under threat of violence by the state.

Through the same lens, it is only possible that social services have any societal value if they allow the manifestation and development of a man that contradicts the complete net negativity of the social program. This is highly unlikely yet theoretically possible. The manifestation of a person with true worth would most likely reverse the negativity of a social program. These are the exceptions.

It is to be noted that generally speaking, it shall be a worse crime to kill those that have higher production value to society. On the same note, killing the infantile or elderly is lesser of an atrocity than killing those who are in the proximity of having contributions to society. An exception to this would be if the infant was to have great value to society. Another exception would be if the elderly were still producing at expedient levels. This would most likely come through the value of education.

The reason killing the infantile is less of an atrocity is due to the fact that less resources have been invested into them. The younger the child, the less of an economic value they have. As a child grows older, a greater investment has been made. As one graduates high school and gains some work experience, they generally begin to be capable of aiding society in production. When an educated pupil has his life cut short, particularly after collegiate studies, this creates a greater detriment to the overall economic production. This is due to the vast amount of invested resources and the very little resources exploited from the individual.

Agricultural production

Agriculture is a safe constant in productiveness to society. With societies becoming further densely populated, people produce less of their own food. Populated areas become more dependent on the producers of sustenance. It’s imperative that one knows that if they provide sustenance to unproductive people, they are in fact degrading the worth of society in an economical sense. To further the rabbit hole, if one provides food to one who is negative to society BUT their offspring happens to have redeeming worth, then in fact the provisions were beneficial to society.

Agricultural production acts as a “shotgun” method of production. In reality, there is no reasonable way of predicting if one is being beneficial to society when providing food as a necessary resource. It is human nature to strive to survive and to strive for the survival of our fellow man, in this sense, the farmer and rancher will continue to produce in mass.

Role of environmental concerns

Environmental concerns play a massive and dynamic role in economic and societal output. If productivity of man results in catastrophic or irreversible environmental damage then the productivity could very well be of a negative nature. It is imperative that productivity does not result in damage that negatively affects future production. This plays into the age-old notion of “salting the earth.” On a large scale, this would be massively detrimental to production. Productivity has no real meaning in the end if there is an end. Therefore, it is imperative that we nourish our mother, Earth, as long as possible. Environmental concerns are quite possibly the largest of all concerns to humanity.

Those who in fact positively impact the environment must also be analyzed. There is great value in this. While many believe they are positive to the environment, under heavy analysis, they are at best neutral. Those with devout positive change are to be held in high regards. Fore it is to be noted that most are a leech to the environment. If one’s only impact is a neutrality to the environment than, most likely, their existence was not beneficial to all.

Societal production is only relevant if there is a society to produce to.

Conscious immorality vs. unconscious immorality

It is a rather too common of an occurrence that the pillar of morality is reversed. When mankind believes their actions to be moral it can intensify the immorality of their actions. This occurs through the masking of negativity by a figure that appears truthful. Most often this figure believes they are being truthful, and that their actions are beneficial. There is conscious and unconscious immorality.

Conscious immorality is when man actively and willfully acts to dismantle productivity and truth. This can be rather devastating, especially when the man is extremely capable. Extremely capable people tend to not fall into this category and much more frequently end up in the following category. If an adept (or even inapt) man acts consciously immoral, causation can mostly likely be found in two different sources. The first would find its roots in a mental illness. The second, has a much darker source. This is paradoxically, inversely related, yet precisely related to the conclusion of the upcoming paragraph. This darker source is human nature. The drive for power, amongst other worldly desires, may drive a man to commit consciously immoral acts.

Unconscious immorality is far more common. This is exhibited when man truly believes, or at least partially believes, he is doing the right thing. The right things would be defined as having virtuous positive behavior that benefits society. Brilliant men can very easily find themselves in this category. People high in emotion tend to fall in the trap of unconscious immorality. When the wrong actions are masked by kind, intelligent people, they are very often repeated and embodied by others. This creates figures of man’s utmost issues and demise. One who is unconsciously immoral can still have value productive to society. This is usually due to the fact that they do not live in alignment with their views and tend to fall back on the values of human nature. Which in fact, usually lead one in a positive path. It may not be the optimum path, but more often than not, these values will benefit you.

The most dangerous of the two immoralities is a difficult comparison for they can hardly be compared. On one hand you have the conscious. How much evil can one do when they actively try? The answer to this correlates with one’s collection of the vast amount of traits that create competency, specifically the competency of gaining power. On the other hand, you have evil disguised as peace and positivity. It is disguised through the cloak of those who truly believe they are doing good. How can there be any better of a facade? This colloquialized figure can rather easily obtain a following since his followers believe the man to be virtuous and truthful, because he thinks he is virtuous and truthful!

Role of government

Governmental interference, and the existence of such whatsoever, inarguably affects the output of society. Generally speaking, government acts as a leach on production. Some of this is out of necessity. These necessary roles, more often than not, are solely necessary to allow for individuals to be able to produce without harm from others. This relates to security under the pillar of community. In fact, government generally falls under this pillar, and its negative actions can be cast into the pillar of morality.

It is imperative to recognize the overwhelming power that governments tend to have. A government is an institution that has ownership over the supreme law of the land. All of the fallacies, paradoxes, and problems that rise in the individual, also arise in government. This is often misunderstood to an extreme fault. If a government upholds values that are inherently evil or negative, if it is very hard for a society to have any real worth. In fact, it might only be possible to be productive if one goes against current standing laws. While interfering with production is inherently dangerous and negative to creating societal worth, interfering with education is perhaps, the most destructive thing a government can do. Education and the manifestation of ideas are one of the most valuables things man can obtain and produce.

Legitimate vs. illegitimate government action

Government action can be categorized into two groups; legitimate and illegitimate actions. For the purpose of this text, legitimacy relates to the value of the action on societal production. Therefore, illegitimate actions negatively impact society.

Legitimate Actions of Government include those programs and institutions that allow for productivity to act at its optimal ability. Due to criminal activity, law enforcement becomes a necessary commodity. As discussed earlier, that becomes difficult to define the value of it in itself. A military also becomes a necessary role. Infrastructure, such the structures that enable safe travel and the movement of clean drinking water are vital.

Illegitimate Actions of Government include those that interfere with production. Bailouts of private corporations are inherently unwise to societal production. This includes taking resources from businesses that are creating a positive monetary asset and injecting it into a larger beast that can no longer care for itself. It is equal to keeping a company alive on life support.

Taxation and the redistribution of wealth

Further included in this section is any redistribution of wealth. This includes social security and welfare. Generally speaking, this is taking away assets from individuals that have proven that they have worth and redistributed this to people who have no worth. These redistribution programs empower leech-type activity on society. The exception to this would be if a person supported by such a program gained the ability to be productive from the program and paid back his debt to the bank of societal effort and production. Even so, it would be hard to fathom in which a person paid back the debt of the entire system in order to make such worthwhile. An exception would be the manifestation of someone with true worth.

Allowing redistribution programs to exist perpetuates parasitic activity in abundance on people with positive value to society. Everyone who exists with negative societal impact can thank their existence to the labors and endeavors to the other half of the population.

Taxes become a legitimate endeavor when they fund legitimate action. As soon as they fund the illegitimate, nothing but illegitimacy can follow. The less taxes a society needs to reap, the more productivity individuals may have. As previously identified, governments only legitimate action of taxing is to provide security for the private sector to be able to flourish. An effective government is that which taxes as little as possible. In this sense, a state’s assets are available for trading and productivity and not tied up in atrocious programs for inadequate people.