i envy you.
you people who were born, lived, grew old and died on the far reaches of society. you from the indigenous tribes of himalayas. you from the poverty stricken part of ethiopia. you from the villages tucked deeply in the amazon. you eskimos who live in an actual igloo i only see from an ABC flashcard in pre-school. you who have never got the chance to deal with technological advancements. you who have never seen an automobile. you who's dream house is literally limited to four walls and a roof. you who's idea of success is to be just as happy tomorrow as you are today. you who doesn't have to turn off your lights to gaze upon the vast blanket of stars. you who's life is simple..too simple. it is too late for me, for most of us. i could only envy you, and i will tell you why you will not want to be a part of it.
technology is good. prosperity is nice. but it looks as if our success as a society is an individual failure for most of us, if not all of us. we have been brought closer and closer together by transportation and communication, but at the very core of it, we are drifting away from each other, faster than any communication device can counteract. greed has gotten to all of us. it has become a part of our subconscious and became an indelible mark on our personalities, but of course, we are trying to rationalize it as though we are only victims of opportunity. how do we stop this? we don't. how can we at least control this? we can't. why? because everyone, and i mean everyone, is a gear on this humongous machine, be it you're a miniscule gear, but nevertheless an integral part of it.
where it all started? i don't know. but it's plausible that it all started in our brains. from the primitive brains of our ancestors, which discovered fire. the primitive brain which invented axe, and stone tools, and wheel and axle. the primitive brain which started a whole revolution of invention to make our lives easier. that is it, that statement alone sparked the greed. "TO MAKE OUR LIVES EASIER". because to some, they would want to satisfy that for themselves even if it would be the total opposite of it for others. and i tell you, it is dangerously infectious, faster than a plague. and it bothers me how it is systematically distributed from top to bottom. from corporate CEO's, to the middle men, to the small players , and down to the consumers. our cars, our home, specially our gadgets, and even our food. we are all plagued. our idea of success is to get more and more. go buy this new shoes, go buy that big-ass television, go drive that fancy car and eat at those fancy restaurants and wear this fancy clothes and keep tapping on your fancy gadgets. ain't it all just fancy? somehow i'm trying to comprehend how it could be hardwired on our brains how these things come to being.
here's what happens..
you see, you have a nice job and you have these nice things and you see these better things that you can't afford. then you'd decide to quit your job and look somewhere else that will pay you more to buy these better things. and now that you have these better things, you now need a bigger house to store them and keep them safe all for yourself. and you buy a bigger car and indeed you need a bigger parking space. and at the background of it all, there are other entities who does their job because you and a couple billion more wants a new phone and a new house and a new car and all of them are exactly like you. these are all intricately intertwined in this machine of a society. and now you have a bigger house so you have to pay more for utilities--electricity bill, phone bill, water, internet, house and lot mortgage, car loans, credit card, and that thing you bought just because it was on sale. then you notice the job that's been paying you more looks like they're paying you even less, and of course the new iphone is out, which you can't afford, so you quit your job again and look someplace else where they'd pay you even more. then it all resets! and all of a sudden, you have two cars and two parking spaces and a big-ass mansion with a big-ass garden, and a big-ass couch while watching your big-ass television and your big-ass ipad at the same time. all these you couldn't even afford last year! when does this stop? when you become the CEO? i don't think so. where is the line? it's starting to look like there isn't. and at the end of the day, you isolate yourself away because you don't trust people anymore, or at least the ones who don't have what you do. and that is the very definition of greed.
so that is why i envy you.
you people who were born, lived, grew old and died on the far reaches of society. you from the indigenous tribes of himalayas. you from the poverty stricken part of ethiopia. you from the villages tucked deeply in the amazon. you eskimos who live in an actual igloo i only see from an ABC flashcard in pre-school. you who have never got the chance to deal with technological advancements. you who have never seen an automobile. you who's dream house is literally limited to four walls and a roof. you who's idea of success is to be just as happy tomorrow as you are today. you who doesn't have to turn off your lights to gaze upon the vast blanket of stars. you who's life is simple..too simple. it is too late for me, for most of us. i could only envy you, and i will tell you why you will not want to be a part of it.
technology is good. prosperity is nice. but it looks as if our success as a society is an individual failure for most of us, if not all of us. we have been brought closer and closer together by transportation and communication, but at the very core of it, we are drifting away from each other, faster than any communication device can counteract. greed has gotten to all of us. it has become a part of our subconscious and became an indelible mark on our personalities, but of course, we are trying to rationalize it as though we are only victims of opportunity. how do we stop this? we don't. how can we at least control this? we can't. why? because everyone, and i mean everyone, is a gear on this humongous machine, be it you're a miniscule gear, but nevertheless an integral part of it.
where it all started? i don't know. but it's plausible that it all started in our brains. from the primitive brains of our ancestors, which discovered fire. the primitive brain which invented axe, and stone tools, and wheel and axle. the primitive brain which started a whole revolution of invention to make our lives easier. that is it, that statement alone sparked the greed. "TO MAKE OUR LIVES EASIER". because to some, they would want to satisfy that for themselves even if it would be the total opposite of it for others. and i tell you, it is dangerously infectious, faster than a plague. and it bothers me how it is systematically distributed from top to bottom. from corporate CEO's, to the middle men, to the small players , and down to the consumers. our cars, our home, specially our gadgets, and even our food. we are all plagued. our idea of success is to get more and more. go buy this new shoes, go buy that big-ass television, go drive that fancy car and eat at those fancy restaurants and wear this fancy clothes and keep tapping on your fancy gadgets. ain't it all just fancy? somehow i'm trying to comprehend how it could be hardwired on our brains how these things come to being.
here's what happens..
you see, you have a nice job and you have these nice things and you see these better things that you can't afford. then you'd decide to quit your job and look somewhere else that will pay you more to buy these better things. and now that you have these better things, you now need a bigger house to store them and keep them safe all for yourself. and you buy a bigger car and indeed you need a bigger parking space. and at the background of it all, there are other entities who does their job because you and a couple billion more wants a new phone and a new house and a new car and all of them are exactly like you. these are all intricately intertwined in this machine of a society. and now you have a bigger house so you have to pay more for utilities--electricity bill, phone bill, water, internet, house and lot mortgage, car loans, credit card, and that thing you bought just because it was on sale. then you notice the job that's been paying you more looks like they're paying you even less, and of course the new iphone is out, which you can't afford, so you quit your job again and look someplace else where they'd pay you even more. then it all resets! and all of a sudden, you have two cars and two parking spaces and a big-ass mansion with a big-ass garden, and a big-ass couch while watching your big-ass television and your big-ass ipad at the same time. all these you couldn't even afford last year! when does this stop? when you become the CEO? i don't think so. where is the line? it's starting to look like there isn't. and at the end of the day, you isolate yourself away because you don't trust people anymore, or at least the ones who don't have what you do. and that is the very definition of greed.
so that is why i envy you.
2015-12-05-1229H
