My first words on my first day of my first writings in the online world (try saying that 10 times). I thought it would be more exciting.
Regardless, I will heavily be focused on political matters at heart, yet it is vital that we have a discussion about my philosophy leading up to this writing, and raise awareness about core problems facing the United States, a country that has grown to be a safe haven for anybody who is rich, and and a fight to survive for everybody else (I bet you can guess my political alignment at this point).
Oh, I didn't introduce myself. Well, maybe later. Let's get into the heart of my message and the purpose of this writing.
The vast majority of people in this country strive to achieve a status in their lives that is defined by how much money they may have and what they can afford as a result. Almost everybody in this country is motivated in their life by either material or financial gain. I would be lying to you if I said these weren't any of my priorities as well, but to understand this piece, you need to understand by deeper motivations.
Why are so many "successful" and financially stable individuals in life so unhappy? Let's face it, we want these things for stability in our lives. We want to wake up in the morning with no significant worries in terms of surviving and being able to do the things that you want to do. Things that require money.
I used to think that these were the true goals in life that everybody should have. To be successful, rich, and able to afford and do anything we pleased to. I used to think that these were the things that would put me ahead of everyone else, because the concept of being better than someone was a priority.
But then I thought of my ideal situation within the pre-existing notions that I had. Let's say I was rich, living my life in a large house with a nice car and enjoying my career. What next? What do I really benefit from this? Was I put on this planet to accomplish these goals, or is there something more significant to life?
Now let's look at the goals of some people who don't have such blessings as I do to have the pre-existing goals of financial success and stability. Let's look, for example, at a hypothetical (but very real) family in Africa, with a mother, father, and two year old son. They have no money, shelter, or quality means of supporting themselves, outside of charity services and the like. What are their goals? To survive the day, keep their child alive, and prepare themselves for the following day would probably be ideas that would be going through their minds. So here I am thinking about buying a Lamborghini in the future when there exists a family that has the goal of merely surviving. What makes me better than them? Why do I have this privilege and they do not?
Now let's think hypothetically. What if my goals in life were catered to the attempt at equality in the world? Why does the United States of America have enough food to essentially cure world hunger, yet people are starving of this very disease every single day? Looks like our priorities are in the wrong places. It became clear to me, very rapidly, that simply being successful would not be enough. But why are so many priorities of those groups of individuals who can actually change our status quo in the world of war, disease, famine, etc. not focused on anything that is beneficial to society, as a whole? Surely we've all heard of such problems in the world, but for some reason they still exist. Furthermore, it doesn't look like there is much attempt at resolve.
Let's take a look at what motivates people. According to several documented and researched theories of prominent psychologists and researchers over the history of our time, the need for power is a prominent need in our society. In thinking about this motivating factor of individuals, the answer to why the world is not at peace and the fact that we have such diseases that we do have becomes evident.
Furthermore, it is my firm belief that the abundance of distractions in our current western society are distractions that we heavily indulge ourselves in. We all watch TV and listen to the media, don't we? We all see the Hollywood stars living the life that we want to be living. We all want to be rich and famous, skinny or built and good looking, driving that luxury vehicle, and living that luxury life. We want this because it is characterized as such a fascinating and attractive lifestyle. We want power! We want money! We want to be in control of what we are not in control of now. We want to be more important than everyone else. Why would we be so encouraged to be this way?
Maybe it's because if we weren't, we would be thinking about what I'm thinking today. Maybe, eventually, we wouldn't be so powerful and controlling as a country if we thought about the problems really facing our world.
Am I a hypocrite because I continuously am striving to achieve success? It is apparent that success and finances are almost a prerequisite to have any possibility of achieving realistic change.
No, I'm not going to go out there and start a grand rally in opposition of every major problem in our country, but what I will do is become one of the most "successful" people in the contemporary sense of the word and use the resources I can attain as a result to "buy" that achievement. I.E., cliche as it may sound, I want to help the people in this world that need help. The first step is raising awareness.
My goal is to help people. My purpose in life is for the benefit of others.. what else would it be? Who cares if I'm rich if I'm just gonna die at the end? In the meantime, we have millions of people without healthcare, millions of people living in poverty, millions of people who have died from hunger, and millions of people who wish to have the opportunity for education (the list goes on).
Should I take the opportunity I have been given and use it to advance myself beyond those people? Or should I take the opportunity I have to advance the entirety of the people? Which of these two is more likely to be a reason that I am living today? The former of the two is obviously irrelevant to everybody except myself. That can't possibly be a point of living. The latter, however, makes sense.
Why does the top 1% of people in America have an overwhelming majority (~90%) of the total amount of money in distribution of the country. Would you like to guess where the other 99% of the money is? Explain to me why the banks were initially voted down for a bailout and then were voted in favor a few days later. There is a correlation between who has money, what their opinions are, and how our leaders vote as a result. Explain to me why the richest people in our country pay less taxes than I do. Explain to me what makes them better than anyone else in the world. Explain to me why they have put their minds to the idea of power and greed.
THESE ARE THE BRIGHTEST MINDS IN THE WORLD; obviously so because of what they are capable of! With such gifts come responsibility, and they have obviously chosen to use it to their own liking.
POWER. GREED.
"Your small article can't change the world." (What power I would have if it could!).
No, it can't. It starts by raising awareness. So why should you care? If I have only succeeded at confusing you, then my apologies. If I've succeeded at raising awareness, then please return the favor.
Here from me soon,
Nice to meet you,
Feel free to let me know your thoughts.
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