I've just been reading an interesting conversation at On Being with the eminent journalist Anand Giridharadas that focused on the dangers of too much power in the hands of the hyper wealthy. The conversation brought to the surface an idea I've been toying with for a long time, but have not yet taken the time to think through, and that is the widely accepted, even dominant cultural idea, that it should be our purpose to prepare for, engage in, and climb to the top of a career.

The subtext is that we value maximum competition over collaboration because the latter is a communal value and competition the better value because it helps one - the struggling individual - to climb the ladder of career. We need to examine the primacy of careerism as a cultural value. It isn't that developing a career is bad, but we need to value the cultivation of our relationships as much as our careers.

In other words, perhaps we ought come to a point wherein we value a career primarily because said career will help our relationships to flourish. Nurturing relationship leads to a richer human experience that includes not only our relationships with other people but with the planet and all of its children.

The drive behind careerism leads to the primacy of money and fame. That, in my view, is pretty thin soup compared to the possibilities of our relationships with each othe. Moderate success in a career can encourage relationships and bring them to fruition.