My thoughts have been everywhere these days: mostly concentrating on ethics, values, technology and how disjointed we have become when it pertains to the overall well-being of our society.
Just last night, my partner (like how I did that — so Gen-Z) and I finished watching Fallout on Amazon Prime. It’s a thought provoking dystopian sci-fi series sending out deep questions with what can only be called dark humor.
It’s a complex story, so much so that I will probably watch it again to see if I fully grasped the context. It’s also, not really something I usually get into: long sci-fi stories with so many details I have to watch it twice.
In any case, it got me thinking about the K-shaped America we’ve created, one where the trajectory goes up for the upper class, and down for the lower class. Simply, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It’s a world of haves and have-nots, with the solution becoming even more difficult to resolve.
Like it or not, our family is on the upper arm of the K. I don’t necessarily identify with the people on it either. Some, I do, many I don’t. I also don’t think that any of us on it are more worthy, smarter, or more industrious. We’re just damn lucky. For many, we may even be on the upper arm of the K by pure luck, also known as housing.
I suppose some of my writing this is to ease my survivor guilt over the matter, having just written about how to milk the most out of your travel dollar while fully ignoring the tone-deaf nature of not only posting this on my blog, but posting this on my blog which has been dedicated to self-sufficiency and global sustainability.
But, this blog is also about sharing who I am and what I’ve learned, and trying to pass along the best bargains so that our efforts are crowdsourced. Here on Hawaii, there are many who have never left the island, and some that either like to, or need to (i.e. college students, visiting relatives, etc.) so I’m hoping that if these pieces seem out of place or offensive, you have my apologies — no such intent was there.
I’m pasting below, a piece I asked Google Gemini AI to write for me about the K-shaped world we live in, and it’s pretty good. I thought the portion labeled “2. The Limits of Individual Generosity” really summarized much of my own thoughts quite well. Gemini needed prompting and it doesn’t always say things in the way that give it the human qualities I think will become more and more urgent as AI takes away the foundational piece of who we are. Nonetheless, it’s here to stay and I think we need to be able to recognize its work versus the type of connection that only humans can provide.
It is a strange, often uncomfortable space to inhabit—to find yourself moving upward on a trajectory you don’t believe should be so steep, while the people and communities you value are being pulled in the opposite direction.
When you hold egalitarian principles, belonging to the “upper arm” of a K-shaped recovery feels less like success and more like a moral paradox. It creates a profound sense of survivor’s guilt that is grounded in the knowledge that your stability isn’t just the result of hard work, but of a system that rewards certain types of assets and “knowledge work” while devaluing the essential labor of others.
The Internal Conflict of the “Upper Arm”
For someone who values equity, the experience is defined by several layers of friction:
1. The Decoupling of Reality
There is a jarring cognitive dissonance in watching your own “paper wealth” or home equity rise while seeing your neighbors struggle with basic costs. You realize that your financial gains are often fueled by the same economic forces—low interest rates or tech-driven disruption—that are making life more precarious for the “lower arm.” It feels wrong for your “wins” to be so detached from the general well-being of your community.
2. The Limits of Individual Generosity
As an egalitarian, your instinct is to share—to donate, to host plant exchanges, to support local businesses, and to volunteer. But you quickly realize that mutual aid cannot fix a structural gap. While sharing seeds or financial resources provides immediate relief, it doesn’t change the fact that the “K” is widening. You feel the weight of trying to bridge a systemic chasm with individual bridges, knowing the chasm is growing faster than you can build.
3. The “Gatekeeper” Burden
Being on the upper arm often means having access to “the room where it happens”—whether that’s a neighborhood board, a corporate meeting, or a policy discussion. You feel a constant responsibility to use that access to advocate for the other arm.
- You find yourself arguing against “NIMBY” (Not In My Backyard) mentalities.
- You push for affordable housing initiatives that might technically “lower” your own skyrocketing property value—and you do so gladly because you value a diverse, healthy community over a high ROI.
Aligning Values with Action
Living this paradox requires moving beyond guilt and into intentional solidarity. It looks like:
- Radical Transparency: Acknowledging that luck, timing, and systemic bias played a role in your position, rather than claiming it was purely “merit.”
- Asset Redistribution: Viewing your surplus not as “extra” for yourself, but as a community trust. This means more than just charity; it’s about investing in systems that create permanent access for others.
- Advocating for Structural Change: Supporting policies like progressive taxation, higher minimum wages, and expanded public services—even if those policies mean the upward trajectory of your “arm” slows down to allow the other to rise.
The Ultimate Goal
The goal of an egalitarian on the upper arm isn’t to stay there alone. It’s to work toward an economy that looks less like a “K” and more like an “=”. You want to live in a world where your security isn’t a luxury, but a baseline that everyone can reach. Until then, the “view from the top” remains a vantage point used only to see who else needs a hand up.