“How the West was won and where it got us”
Most everyone I know is slightly miserable... I ask them why, and the majority doesn’t know… They attribute it to some fragmentary existential angst with no real root, cause or easy explanation... Most are on the pill you take to stay happy...
Why are most Americans unhappy?? We are living in an age where people are wealthier than ever, relatively speaking... Most have shelter, running water and flushing shitters... Most have jobs... Most have at least a rudimentary education and a vehicle... People have more leisure time than at any other point in our history... Most of us don’t have to hunt our own food down and skin it or grow it... Most of us don’t have to build our own shelters or chop our own wood for warmth. Most of us have children that aren’t going to die of polio or the measles... Most of us are going to live past 45... So why is the majority of Americans so unhappy????
Did we outsmart ourselves with all the technology that was supposed to improve our lives and make them easier?? No matter what we get we want more and better... It isn’t enough to have basic transportation, we want cars you could live in, watch TV in instead of playing punch buggy... We want homes that could house twice as many people that actually live in them... We have ovens that cook our food in a third of the time, and that is if we even bother to cook... We have other people to raise our kids and wash our dogs...
We have become a greedy and status conscious nation... Things we were proud to have can immediately become sources of shame if someone we know gets better versions of them than we have got... Is it because ‘poor’ is the new nigger and the lines between socio-economic groups are more sharply delineated than ever before…? Even children are status conscious now and aren’t content to just have shoes… They want the name brands even though they will outgrow them in 4 months... They want every new toy that arrives on the shelves at the toys R us and as parents we indulge this... What happened to “Go play in the yard”? What happened to “Go find something to do”? Most kids aren’t even capable of ‘finding something to do’ without needing batteries for it... We depend on television and video games to keep them entertained.
When did death and aging become unnatural and something we need to prevent?? When did people start spending trillions on drugs to keep us alive long past our productivity... Million on creams to keep the wrinkles at bay... Surgery to have bigger boobs than what we needed to feed our babies... When did we start worrying more about what people thought of us instead of worrying about what we think of ourselves…? Is anyone you know content with what they have?? Satisfaction on a deeper level is eluding us... We are tethered to cell phones, dependent upon pagers... We use the internet to make friends instead of going out to meet people in our communities. We have no compassion for those less fortunate and generosity has become a rare commodity... We like people having less so we can feel like we have more. Money used to be a tool to get us the things we could not supply for ourselves... Now people want it just to have it... They don’t use it as a means to an end... It is the end... We measure our self worth by what we have instead of what we do for others...
When was the last time you made something with your own hands?? When was the last time you spared a kind word for someone? When was the last time you gave some time to a cause not your own? When was the last time you walked somewhere instead of drove? When was the last time you were just happy, when the catalyst for that happiness was just being alive? When was the last time you gave thanks for a meal? When was the last time you felt better about yourself for something you did and not something you got? Do you see setbacks as catastrophes or opportunities? Do you make the most of what you have instead of worrying about what you don’t have?
Is Prozac the new Slimfast for the soul?? I guarantee faith, love, charity and hope will make you feel better than a pill that costs you more and gives you less…
With all that said, I need to go to the manicurist and pick up my child from daycare…
In Absinthe Veritas,
Tallulah Crankhead
