So my African anthropology class has got me thinking, and I tend to think hard about stuff and things. I suppose I should start by saying that I find something inherently disturbing about colonization and the effects it has had all over the world. One of the most disturbing parts is that I wouldn't be here in this exact moment as the way things are if colonists hadn't come in and totally screwed the natives over. Am I supposed to thank my ancestors for that?
Anyway, if someone came up to me and said everything I've ever done in my life was wrong and offered the solutions to my problems... well I'd be intrigued. Colonization is kind of like that except there is no choice involved. These already established and stable communities were disrupted because someone was so purely convinced that they had a better idea of how they should be living their lives.
That's right, you've been living wrong this whole time. Except it won't ever really seem that way.
This is a silly thought, but it stems from some more serious debates and I've often pondered the ridiculous hypocrisy that is westernization and why it is that I'm placed in the middle of it. I often dream of being born a long time ago before a modern land. Of course, saying this invites all sorts of flak about disease and hardships. Sure, there might be famine and all that shit, but obviously humans survived all the struggles. How else do you think we got here? The history books paint a bleak picture of how old ways of life were completely insane clusterfucks of agonizing toils. But really, things aren't any better today. In fact, we're just lazy fucks.
We like to think that we have been moving towards a superior state than our ancestors. That's progress. Except, we must consider that the progression is largely catering to materialism. That's the endgame: acquire as many things in this life to pass on to your children. Because, as we've learned all our lives, things lead to comfort and we depend on comfortable lives to make us happy. Are you uncomfortable? Seek a doctor to fix you. Once you're cured, you can go back to the grind of finding a mate by attracting her with money. Already banging someone? Might as well blow your brains out, 'cause you've already won at life!
Now of course I'm exaggerating a lot of this, and it is by no means directed at my fellow humans. In fact, my frustration comes from these moments of clarity when I see how much of a hypocrite I am. If you asked me what my long-term goals are I might say, "To live a long and healthy life with lots of meaningful relationships." That sounds genuine and positive, yeah? But I've been trained to believe that the only way this is possible is to get a boring desk job, make money, trick someone into loving me, and finally spitting out some snotty kids to pass my superficial values on to. Even if I believe that money isn't important to my happiness, I see no other option in my life than going ahead and trying to acquire it. That's what everybody else is doing, and it's hard to avoid the lemming mentality. Even when I'm focusing on earning my degree and trying to help people, there will always a little voice in the back of my mind that says, "And the money will be nice, too!"
So I'm addicted to creature comforts. Who isn't? I wish I could just give it all away and go live in a sustainable community, but I'm already so hooked on the ease of this way of life. It would have taken me much longer to write this thought on paper, but that's just the natural progression of technology. It's not like hipsters back in the day were saying, "I prefer engraviing a stone tablet over writing on paper; it just feels more organic." So if things are just naturally getting easier and more convenient, why do I get this dreadful feeling that it is cheapening our lives? If you've ever read the comments section on any given YouTube video, you might side with me in saying that the weight of our words is diminishing, becoming slightly embarrassing and disgraceful even. Granted, there are plenty of thoughtful and intelligent folks spreading some good intentions across the world, but those channels aren't tapped into as frequently because it involves more work. A reason YouTube is so popular is because it is easy, accessible entertainment and it doesn't make you think very hard. Today's youth is not concerned with thinking deeply; I sure as hell wasn't when I was that age. We just wanted to be entertained as easily as possible.
Obviously there seems to be a shift as you grow older. Perhaps I'm experiencing it now. A time in which all the usual channels of stimulation start to run dry and you're left with a thirst for "higher" content. We want content that is more thought out because everything else was becoming predictable and unimpressive. We don't want easy anymore. We want to work hard to earn things that are not easily attained.
And I'm sure it was the same for our ancestors... but why is it that we're still creating such destruction? Oxymorons aside, we're capable of so much yet our efforts are being absolutely wasted. So if I'm going to come out of this downward spiral with any positive message, it would be to make every effort with every ounce of your intention behind it. Don't half-ass anything. Think it through and see how your efforts cascade through your peers. Leave positivity in your wake.
Well that was quite a digression from colonialism, but you get the point. Oh, you don't? Well I'm not going to bother explaining because I'm too busy watching dumb videos on YouTube.
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