“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” Marcus Aurelius. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” Martin Luther King, Jr. “YOLO.” Anonymous.
An emperor, a dreamer, and a slacker. A quote about a human’s inner thinking. Words to urge America towards civil rights. An excuse thrown at teachers, bosses and parents alike. The above three quotes make up the framework of an important message.
How much do you need? How much do you want? Odds are, the second list is longer. Why? America is undoubtedly a mass consumer culture. We drink pop like water, eat as though we’re starving, and get the newest iPhone as if our lives depended on it. Every year, high schoolers either travel to college or get a job. Those who choose college go understanding that statistically, they’ll get a better job upon graduation. And everyone needs a job so they can buy more goods. Social standings can even be compared with how much stuff an individual posseses Arguably no one reading this can state that they do not participate in this system.
Ignoring the last statement, what are you doing for others? Immediately destroy the facade of an answer you were developing in your mind. The saddening fault of the human consciousness is that it can only truly think of the world in its own terms, through its own eyes. Whatever volunteer organization an individual participates in is done for a benefit they can see for themselves. This can be anything from bettering “their” community, to the warm fuzzy feeling they get. In high school and college, clubs and organization are joined because they look pleasant on a résumé.
The statements I have made are pompous, and pot stirring. While they are no way, or form, effective laws or ordinances about people, they do hold some truths. Miniscule are the numbers that take the time to evaluate an action and its effect on those around them. Presenting this, I want you to picture a water bottle. For a dollar, you can buy plastic that will take one hundred to four hundred and fifty years to decompose. This is much longer than the average American life span. Consequently, your one dollar can affect people four generations from now. While here at college, the event standard is to lure you in with free gear. I doubt anyone needs the four frisbees, eight posters and sixteen pens. What happens to a majority of these? My hall threw a large quantity of it out.
In conclusion, for those who scanned to the end, or have followed this rant, this is what I hope you to come away with. Instead of accumulating a bunch of useless or semi-useful trash, think about what you’re acquiring. Materialism is a serious subject. Some of the easiest options are just to buy a permanent water bottle, or not turning swag mad on K-Day. By reducing our junk intake, not only can it be cheaper on our wallets/ purses, but help preserve this beautiful world we live in. We all only get to live once.
