For the longest time the American people have been force fed a diet of shop till you drop mindlessness that always had a very ugly underside. Either you did as you were told and rang up credit card debt and re-mortgaged your future, or you did not, but there was little middle ground and the vast majority of the people who do what they are told, shopped. And then dropped, in an economic mess of their own making.
This to me has always been the ugly side of capitalism. First it always seemed anti-patriotic for companies to do many of the things that have made them hugely successful in the eyes of investors, that is ship jobs overseas for slave wages, import cheap and crappy goods to sell to people who could no longer afford quality, and finally, build up a diet built on crappy food mass manufactured to remove all taste and health benefits out of it.
Have you ever wondered why we have become the most obese nation on earth? I mean, really, step back and ask yourself that. Maybe it is because we do not promote family meals anymore, not that we ever really did. There is some romantic vision of families sitting around the table, debating the great topics of the day, while being respectful to a father and mother who seemed content and in love. I never knew anyone who grew up like that and the elderly people I talked to over the years did not know those people either.
In modern America we have fast food restaurants on almost every block in every type of neighborhood. I recently met a man who owns four McDonalds restaurants. Want to know what he makes per year? I did. His salary is 130 thousand dollars a year, which is a nice chunk of change, but there is an asterisk next to that, because he is also the owner of the company that he works for, so he gets profit sharing. Add in the profits from the four McDonalds and he takes home over half a million dollars a year.
So, while the populace is eating his products and getting fat, his bank account is equally obese.
Again, tip of the iceberg. If you want to know what is really wrong with mindless consumerism, go to a shrink. No, seriously, go talk with a counselor, psychologist and psychiatrist. Americans are the most heavily medicated people on the planet. Wait, at first I mentioned that we are the most obese people in history and now we are the most medicated. We are deeply depressed and fat. Why is that?
My guess is that we were not meant to shop and collect crap and live a life of meaningless shopping and eating unhealthy flavorless food. As the big corporations became farmers and the restaurants became chains that served terrible food, and as out jobs became more and more repetitive and boring, we became clinically depressed, not liking our food, our shopping, our lives. So we medicate.
If we don't medicate with food, we do it with prescriptions and if we don't get the pills, we watch TV and get brain dead. I can not tell you how many people I no longer talk to in part because what they want to talk about is what they saw on TV, not what they did, what they created or what they are passionate about. If you are passionate about The Hills, you should take more Xanax and stop calling me.
So, our economy is changing, dramatically. People are worried that this concept of buy buy buy and medicate and pill pop and eat till you explode really might not be what we were meant to be. Imagine that. Maybe we were meant to farm, and live a simple life, and enjoy music we made with our hands and art we created with our own fingers. I often think about Scott Nearing, who's book I devoured in college and he made me want to become a simple farmer, living a good life. I have never actually made it that far, although at times I have come close. But there are things I think we can all do that would make us healthier, happier and better people of the world. Simple things, like buy locally grown foods, stop support Wal-Mart and the like, do not buy things you do not need, save money, never eat at a restaurant where you do not know where they get their food. Throw out those medications and stop watching television. Call friends you have forsaken and ask them how they are doing. Create your own community. Make a loaf of bread for that neighbor you never really bothered to get to know. Take afternoons off to spend time with your lover. Have more sex and enjoy a glass of wine with someone you love.
Mostly, make decisions without the fear of the TV hotheads and live a life you define and one that you can be proud of. Stop lying, life is short and soon enough you will be gone and the people who knew you, who loved and hated you, the people who mattered will move on without you and your legacy will either be one of generosity and wisdom, or possibly that of the fat guy who was lazy and stupid. Choice can be a wonderful thing.
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