Oshan has been exploring our experience of reality is shaped by our economic system. Earlier this year he published a great essay titled “Universal Basic Income and the Capitalist Production of Consciousness” which explores how capitalism and our current iteration, “hyper-capitalism” shapes who we are as people.
In that essay, he makes a powerful point about how people think about possibilities of the future that are not as dependent on the way we have worked for a long time:
The projection that we’d waste our time with idling activities like Netflix and the beach neglects that most working class humans today are overworked and barely getting by. Current notions of how we spend our ‘leisure’ time are products of, and responses to, our life conditions.
Oshan sums up his worldview as:
We’re all going to die, but in the meantime, the world is far more mysterious, wonderful, and stimulating than human consciousness plagued by economic precarity can experience.
We explore the possibilities that might emerge if we can imagine a life beyond work. This is a bold task but Oshan’s research and contemplation on this topic have inspired me to keep going and I was excited to compare notes with him on this podcast.
- Oshan’s Work: Musing Mind