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How You Define Yourself is How You Trap Yourself
Alan Watts once had a talk where he outlined the key difference among the aristocrat, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
If you’re not familiar with these terms, the aristocrat is someone who was born into nobility, like a king or queen. The proletariat is the working-class person. The bourgeoisie is the middle-class person. (I don’t believe Watts was referring to the strict Marxist definitions of proletariat or bourgeoisie.)
Watts saw that the aristocrat lived in the past. He looks at everything his ancestors did and revels in his lineage and what his bloodline has afforded him. The proletariat lives in the present as they content themselves with the pleasures that are before them.
The bourgeoisie, however, lives in the future. She thinks that there’s always something more to get, which means that the present moment is an obstacle to the desired future. But even when she gets what she wants, there’s always more to want and so that becomes the new goal. The carrot will forever dangle in front of her face.
Is it any wonder that the bourgeoisie suffers? Life as it is can never be good enough. No matter what one gets, there’s always more and so there is never a moment to relax and enjoy what is. Given Watts’ examples, perhaps you see yourself as a bourgeoisie. I know I did.
