From the Stone Age to the industrial revolution life conditions for the overwhelming majority of people were miserable; they suffered from a seasonal shortage of food, adverse temperatures, threats, and lack of proper housing. Social history, the pomp, the conquest, and the culture rode on the backs of oppressed classes. Religion was the mental comfort and deep-seated hope that gave meaning to life amid the grueling drudgery.
Things cannot be more different at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In most parts of the world, food, clothing, and housing is a natural part of the human condition. In big, overstuffed, middle-class homes, out of season clothes are discarded like garbage. At the time when we achieved never experienced prosperity, we are faced with an epidemic of addictions, alienation, crime, and abuse. Trying to understand the root causes of this seismic social change we need to analyze several factors that had transformed society. Compared to the rigid, impassable class division of yesteryear, social mobility is open to anyone with the drive to succeed. The news is full of examples of tech billionaires and executives who started from modest beginnings. However, the comparison with the proverbial Johnsons can make every member of the society left behind at one time or another. The news, social media, and the internet can serve as a constant reminder of our failure in the rat race. To justify our perceived ineptness, we manufacture imaginary and impassable obstacles to success; theories of unfairness, conspiracies, such as far right or far left political oppression, government or alien manipulations and excess to ‘connections,’ as excuses for inaction.
Spending time on these emotionally demanding fantasies drains mental energies. It wastes not only precious time, but derails attention from personal well-being and career goals. The technological developments, financial complexities, and social changes demand meaningful decision making at every level. Maneuvering the stormy waters of change requires grooming our intellectual quotients. Occupation with gossip and unfounded fantasies leaves one stuck, while society is progressing at a breakneck pace. Being left behind by a progressing society creates increasing anxiety, which can easily culminate in depression, addictions and acts of desperation. We are the first generation to have the ability to analyze how our emotions influence our behavior. Certain aspects of our emotional inheritance can destroy the upcoming generation’s ability to succeed. The rigid mindset of the class system must be replaced by a strong belief in the ability of the self to initiate change.
Spending time on these emotionally demanding fantasies drains mental energies. It wastes not only precious time, but derails attention from personal well-being and career goals. The technological developments, financial complexities, and social changes demand meaningful decision making at every level. Maneuvering the stormy waters of change requires grooming our intellectual quotients. Occupation with gossip and unfounded fantasies leaves one stuck, while society is progressing at a breakneck pace. Being left behind by a progressing society creates increasing anxiety, which can easily culminate in depression, addictions and acts of desperation. We are the first generation to have the ability to analyze how our emotions influence our behavior. Certain aspects of our emotional inheritance can destroy the upcoming generation’s ability to succeed. The rigid mindset of the class system must be replaced by a strong belief in the ability of the self to initiate change.
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Picture credit: Mother and child by Eva Deli
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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli
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