an essay by Capt. Nemo...
The means of motivation in the Soviet empire was the stick. For evidence supporting this hypothesis consider the Berlin Wall, barbed wire fences, and guard towers. The population was treated as a labor force, under threat of punishment.
In the capitalist systems, meanwhile, the dominant method of motivating people has become the carrot. The forces of consumerism utilize Madison Avenue to convince people that they want to buy products that they otherwise would not need or want.
A third method of motivation exists. The self actualized individual is able to utilize the prefrontal cortex to motivate behavior.
In philosophy this process is related to critical thinking. In psychology it relates to Maslow's studies. In medicine studies have generated evidence about the function of this lobe. In mysticism the writings of Gurdjieff have some bearing on the function of the prefrontal cortex.
Human life will never be understood unless its highest aspirations are taken into account. Growth, self-actualization, the striving toward health, the quest for identity and autonomy, the yearning for excellence (and other ways of phrasing the striving "upward") must by now be accepted beyond question as a widespread and perhaps universal human tendency Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality