Life is All About Inputs and Outputs - March 2023

This article was published in the March 2023 issue of the Youngstown Buckeye Review, a locally owned black publication.   

Many of you know that I propose abolishing the consumer.  The LIE that we are consumers has turned everything, even relationships, into commodities and transactions.  The TRUTH?  Biology, neurology, science, nature, and spiritual traditions prove that humans are PRODUCERS.  After all, we’re “made” in the image and likeness of the Creator (the Big Producer).

Therefore, we must think, talk, and make decisions as Producers.  The language of Producers begins with two words: Inputs and Outputs.  Inputs are everything we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste.  We get Inputs from people, places, material things, and ideas.  Outputs are our actions, personalities, beliefs, values, emotions, activities, interests, and opinions.  The key to wellbeing, flourishing, and a meaningful life is to be aware of our Inputs and Outputs and study the Inputs we utilized to “produce” our Outputs.

I’ll illustrate with K-12 education.  All human situations have four questions: Who are the Producers?  What are each Producer’s current and desired Outputs?  What Inputs are utilized to produce the current Outputs?  What Inputs are needed to produce desired Outputs?  In K-12, the Producers are students, teachers, administrators, staff, parents/guardians, and community stakeholders.   

Teachers desire students to “produce” Outputs of listening and understanding the subject matter (the Inputs).  Students desire consistent, stable, and non-threating characteristics (Outputs) from teachers and parents/guardians.  Unfortunately, the consumer LIE has programmed students to reject (not “like”, not “buy”) the subject matter and “produce” Outputs of inappropriate behaviors.  Equally, teachers consciously and unconsciously come to reject students for not learning and being undisciplined.   

Teachers, students, and parents/guardians must begin seeing themselves and one another as Producers and begin thinking, talking, and making decisions with the consistent, stable, and non-threating Producer language.  As an example, if a student “produces” inappropriate behaviors, the exploratory question is: What Inputs are producing these Outputs?  The Inputs could be poor diet, lack of sleep, too much time on social media and video games, clothing issues, negative household or neighborhood situations, school bullying, and/or intellectual boredom.

All community stakeholders should use Producer language when interacting with students.  As an example, police officers should say: “You’re a Producer.  Your Outputs are my Inputs.  If you produce unlawful Outputs, it’s my job, as a Producer, to produce humane and proper legal actions.”  Officers should also say: “You’re a Producer who should be producing the Outputs of going to school, studying, passing examinations, listening to the teacher, and not acting up in class.”   

In closing, I’m often asked: Aren’t we consumers when we buy cars, clothing, smartphones, food, etc.?   No!  You’re Producers acquiring goods and services (Inputs) to produce your current and desired Outputs.  As an example, food processors promote the LIE that we are consumers consuming food for taste, smell, and appearance (such foods are often harmful to the body).  We are not consumers consuming food, we are Producers eating natural resources (Inputs) to produce high quality energy that’s utilized to produce everything we do in life (our Outputs).  Indeed, companies should never be called producers, they are simply “suppliers” of goods and services (Inputs) to us, the real Producers.