Okay, to the subject:
Society pressures us all the time in all aspects. We should go to school, get a job, earn money etc. We should look beautiful and handsome, be outgoing and most importantly earn and spend money. Now first of all a lot of people think money is everything. Like money is the root of happiness. Now I would like to have some more of it, but a lot of people I have talk to see their main goals in life tied to money. The society wants, or MAKES us do some things that are considered compulsary. First you go to school, then you study some more or/and get a job, build a family, work for ages, retire and... Well that's basically it. A cycle like this keeps the society going and makes people like lab animals running in a wheel.
Today's society is nowhere near a complete unit, it's merely a conclusion of a history that has lead to this point. That makes me wonder why so few people question these values like they have no free will at all. For example, my little sister is a brainwashed moron. I asked her what she wants from life and all I got was the same money-job-family stuff. Now some people might want that, I understand. If it's your ultimate goal, fine, but most people have dreams and fantasies they would like to fulfill. But it seems that society suffocates these dreams by making them impossible. Now if someone's dream is to climb on the top of Mount Blanc, he or she possible wouldn't do it, because it would need too much sacrifices and efforts from everyday life.
Okay now I'm just getting to the point. People are afraid to fulfill some of the things they want just because society makes them somewhat impossible. But like the guy who climbed on the top of Mt. Everest first wasn't afraid to rebel against society's standards. He knew what he wanted and just did it. Most of people wouldn't do something like that, because it seems too impossible to get away from society's standards.
I started to think about these when I saw myself acting like a robot that does exactly what the society wants me to do. I had just finished my military service (a huge favour (like I even wanted to do it) for the country I don't even like so much), started to looking for a job and studying for the entry exams for university. Of course I see a job important because money is a must to survive, but isn't there any space to question these values? Now I take these issues more lightly simply because failing in one or another isn't the end of the world. Like a friend of mine that hasn't a job or a place to study might be considered a loser but I really respect him because he knows what he wants to do and achieve in life.
Now if a person doesn't have a job and lives in a small house, judging by society's standards he is considered lower than a rich lawyer. But the jobless man might be much happier than the lawyer althought he isn't as useful to the society.
Life is much more than just the things society wants us to believe and it took some time for me to understand. But now I'm happier in life than before my military service.
I might lost some of my thoughts writing this, but I'll add some questions for you to think about and hopefully get a conversation going. I'm pretty interested in this since most of people I've talked about believe in today's society, while I see that it has harmed the planet and it's inhabitats as much or even more than it has done good to them.
- Do you have dreams that you would like to fulfill but they seem impossible to reach, because it's too hard to get them done?
What values set by society do you question?
Have you just sat sometimes on a park bench and looked objectively how the society's rat race looks?
When you're old and tired, what would you want to have accomplished?
Parents assuming their child would rather have things than time with them.
