Preview: Ensuring Prosperity

The Foundation

Being part of society and having any chance of getting what you want is dependent on the maintenance of prosperity.

The foundation of prospering is being financially self-supporting, usually by «making a good living» or earning well so that you can maintain a satisfying standard of living. Above all, you must not be a burden on your family, your community or the government.

Those lowest in status lack economic resources and suffer extreme poverty or homelessness. Low status typically accrues to those in stigmatized groups who struggle to prosper: drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, illegal immigrants, stateless persons, prisoners, the severely mentally ill—and, almost by definition, the unemployed.

It is possible to be financially independent without earning: for example if wealth is inherited or if there is direct government subsidy for some social reason. However, even in these cases, the natural commencement for obtaining status is in the competition-driven market-centred mode because this is the only mentality that focuses on the importance of money.

Financial strength cannot be taken for granted. The only way to become financially secure and maintain your status even in hard times is:

1: Through developing a good reputation, because that ensures your qualities, skills and knowledge will be regularly sought after by others; and

2: Through avoiding complacency by deliberately preparing for future eventualities that may be unfavourable or bring new challenges to your economic well-being.

Progressing the Cycles

The ways to interact for benefit, having been plotted in a TET, are viewed as modes of personal effort. Each mode consists of a distinctive set of maxims for progressively and appropriately increasing status and financial security in society. They provide guidelines for handling oneself and others in social life.

As usual, the spiral trajectory is a strenuous process in which each mode becomes a Stage of development. Progress through these Stages builds status by cumulating mode values, but this process can stop at any Stage if status and prospering is judged sufficient.

Status is grounded in being financially self-supporting, which calls for upholding market-centred values.

Drivers

The drivers for evolutionary progression around the Spiral include:

  • external competitive pressures
  • personal ambitions for social advancement
  • personal aspirations for wealth
  • external pressures (e.g. from family)
  • emergence of obstacles and set-backs
  • limitations of the current mode of personal effort

Cycle-1

In Cycle-1, you seek to move beyond immediate financial sufficiency to becoming socially secure through winning esteem and developing a good reputation.
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This is made possible, initially by:

building personal strengths and resources (i.e. power-centred), then by...

becoming a recognized expert in something meaningful (i.e. cause-centred), then by...

actively supporting the social milieu(i.e. community-centred).

By the end of Cycle-1, your reputation plays a big part in sustaining and enhancing your social position and earning capacity, which is why it must be carefully protected.

Cycle-2

In Cycle-2, you seek to insure your social position in the face of emerging challenges and strokes of fate by preparing for future eventualities.
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Positioning yourself in relating to future events is possible, initially by: 

building lasting relationships (kinship-centred)on whom you can depend for support, then by...

analysing from alternative viewpoints and welcoming new ideas (perspective-centred) to deal with changes, and finally by...

facing up to socio-economic realities (reality-centred) so as to ameliorate dangers and seize opportunities as soon as possible.

By the end of Cycle-2, your capacity to handle eventualities will be greatly bolstered making you well-positioned to maintain prosperity and status.

Now investigate the growth trajectory in detail:

Originally posted: 20-Jun-2025.