Piggy Back
Let’s face it, we’re all becoming too dependent and it’s making us vulnerable.
Let me explain. There’s a simple blueprint that big companies follow when it comes to providing products and services. I got a copy of the blueprint and it reads:
“Make it better.”
How do they make it better?
Well that depends on the product or service and how much profit is made. For example, when it comes to food, “better” might mean tastier or healthier or both. We all know that “tastier” is more profitable for companies when it comes to food. As a testament to this, look around your local supermarket. When it comes to service, it may mean more reliable, friendlier staff or cheaper.
What’s the common attribute that consumers want when it comes to goods and services?
Consumers want it fast! Fast food, fast internet, fast cars, fast delivery, instant results, 5 minute noodles, and endless get rich quick schemes to name a few “fast” fixations. Society is obsessed about getting things quickly.
What’s the problem with getting things fast?
Well, corporations are machines that care about one thing, making a profit. Companies don’t care about your health, your family’s health, or the environment’s. If you buy it, they’ll keep making it, regardless of the repercussions. The most obvious example is cigarettes. They’re very expensive, highly addictive, are very bad for you, and are very bad for everyone else around a smoker. Tighter regulations haven’t slowed the sale of cigarettes. Why? Simply because a lot of people still continue to purchase and use them, even when their health deteriorates with every puff. A smoker gets instant gratification when they light up. That part of their brain that signals “Stop, that’s killing you” broke a long time ago from consistently smoking. They are well, simply, addicted.
Another example is fast food. Got most the elements of tobacco, i.e. highly addictive, bad for you, instantly gratifies yet health dwindles with every bite. Thirsty? Grab a bottle of water, which instantly quenches thirst with every mouthful yet every empty bottle slowly poisons our environment. Need information? Google it while lounging around. In this day and age we can find out about anything and everything, but adverse effect is that we have difficulty retaining knowledge. Bored? We’ll there’s a fix for that too, Facebook, YouTube, media rich apps on our smartphones that are accessible through a simple series of swipes and touches.
Most of us have become just a bunch of confused, overly stimulated, sleep deprived, drug addicted subjects with superficial values that drive big company’s profits up because they consistently convince us to buy their stuff. Companies spend lots of money on research and development to determine how to “legally” put us in the most ideal semi-conscious hypnotic state that will make them lots of money. Surely we’re not put on this planet to live such futile existence!
Fact of the matter is, convenience has a price and it’s exacting on priceless commodities like health and well being, our environment, and deeper knowledge and understanding. Next time, before buying something, weigh out the positive impact against the negative of making that purchase. If the positive greatly outweighs the negative, make that guilt free purchase. The only way we can demand change is by being inconvenienced.
After all, we all have children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren to think about, who will ultimately inherit this planet once we’re gone. But while we’re still here, why don’t we get better educated about the crisis that’s before us, pass down that knowledge to our young ones so we can turn this thing around and make a difference for the future.
It will take a long time, like most things that are precious, but it will be worth doing.
