Tag Archives: materialism

The World Is a Vampire

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“Advertising is legalized lying.”  —H.G. Wells

Behind every door. Around every corner. Sprouting from every sidewalk crack. Creeping in the shadows, ready to strike.

We are continuously being pitched, convinced, and enticed. An onslaught of fantastical facts, a barrage of outrageously superlative claims. Like moths to a dangerous flame, our eyes widen with the prospect of attainment and a misguided, fleeting sense of completion. But our wings are stuck in honey-coated manipulation, dragging us down into the muck as we drown in our own avarice.

Bloodsucking corporations blinded by bottom lines are constantly inventing new ways to addict, beguile, and seduce. Praying on the most vulnerable, profits are turned and blindfolds are fastened with the nonchalance of a coin flip. Unfeeling, uncaring, and unsympathetic. After one target is struck, the next simply slides into the crosshairs. People are reduced to numbers on spreadsheets, existing only to further fuel a runaway train of greed and gluttony.

Algorithms predict our habits and preferences, frighteningly anticipating each keystroke and instinctual click with a level of accuracy that could be better designated for research or solutions to help elevate mankind instead of obliterating it.

Fat cats find ways to only get fatter. Free from fear of repercussion or consequence, boundaries aren’t just crossed, they’re redrawn. Puppet masters pulling strings to make the population dance and sway to the sounds of its own funeral dirge. Laughing all the way to the stock exchange, burdened only by the weight of their preposterous bonuses and options. Congratulating themselves for another assignment masterfully accomplished.

Is there any limit to the force-feeding we must endure? Can someone please turn off the flashing neon lights and sugary slick presentations? We don’t need more things. We don’t need more waste. We don’t need any more help getting sicker, lazier, more complacent, or more apathetic.

We’re already doing a pretty astounding job of destroying ourselves without any corporate assistance.

Adolescence Interrupted

Self-Actualized or Dead Inside?

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“When people appear to be something other than good and decent, it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain, or the deprivation of basic human needs such as security, love, and self-esteem.”  —Abraham Maslow

Is walking through this world entirely untroubled by the perspective or judgment of any other human being indicative of some Buddhist-like sense of self-assurance, or is it simply born from a perpetually hollow, empty core that sits like a dry well, incapable of registering the emotional message being delivered by my fellow carbon-based cronies?

Lately, I’ve been pondering this odd dissonance and trying to arrive at some definitive conclusions.

I am not unaware of criticisms. I am simply unaffected by them.

I value opinions and suggestions from those I admire and respect, but I am not easily swayed to re-examine my stance, reconsider my position, or reverse course without a period of prolonged, thoughtful scrutiny. Generally, my initial view remains intact, with some slight, subtle alterations to the foundation. 

I welcome feedback but am not impacted by negative reviews, harsh critiques, or unfavorable assessments. Like a stream of words in water, passing by on their way to another destination, I see the shapes and textures but never get wet.

I rarely experience hurt feelings, jealousy, envy, or desire of any kind. 

I celebrate the success of others as opposed to resenting it, but I never want to trade lives or circumstances with someone else.

The monotony of this hamster wheel hell called human existence never compels me to cheat, steal, or manipulate my way to a higher status or social position. Who has the most toys, followers, or fans is entirely irrelevant. Material possessions and ego-driven adoration are nothing but anvils affixed to our necks.

As elusive as the pursuit often feels, I strive to find balance and equity in all things, and I reject the notion that people in power positions have the right to discard or diminish the efforts of those so easily and thoughtlessly sequestered and banished to some concocted concept of a lower group, caste, or class.

I routinely rage at my own blinding inability to maintain full control in an increasingly uncontrollable world, and I’m baffled by the discordant mindsets of those who are perfectly comfortable following the false god of public opinion while swallowing endless twisted stats and facts like kids overdosing on Halloween candy.

Hmm. Guess I can scratch self-actualized off the list.

Adolescence Interrupted