Some folks are explaining the cost of living is going up due to extremely rich people manipulating the currency and the markets. While this is true and has a terrific impact on our lives and our wealth, this is not the whole story.
“New Improved!” “The Joneses have one. We must keep up.” “Faster than the leading brand.” “Easier!’ “More convenient!”
We have given in to convenience. We have given in to keeping up with the neighbors. From the time the first caveman showed off his fancy rock with the sharp edge, the human race has been suckered into faster, better, more convenient. Now I’m not going to say none of these new inventions are not progress. I think we can all agree that a piece of sharp stone doesn’t hold a candle to a good, sharp blade of steel with a nice handle. But how big of a flat screen TV do we need? How many bells and whistles does our car need to get us where we need to go? Do we need a boat and trailer, an RV, dirt bikes and a $10 coffee?
The truth is that when we compare the ‘50s when a single income was sufficient to raise a family to today we usually just focus on the incomes and what they bought us. However, in the ‘50s we lived in a smaller house- 1,000 square feet instead of 2500 square feet. We had one family car instead of three. Little kids had pedal cars instead of battery operated ones. Our vacations were simpler with the family acting more together in whatever activity we chose. There were fewer gadgets in our kitchens. There were on Game Boys or Xboxes played alone by us. We played cards or board games together. All of our food was organic and we didn’t have to pay extra for it.
There were a lot of differences back then, but the newer, better got us and we caved in to all the new stuff, some of which has features we never use. Of course it’s all more costly. That’s the idea. Our psychology has been used against us. As our way of thinking and the methods to direct that thinking were uncovered by researchers studying the human mind, we became more at the mercy of advertisers who never had our best interests at heart. The rise of media contributed as well. It just so happens that the media and all of its brain shaping activity that’s been going on for decades is owned by the same people mentioned above who manipulate the markets and also control the money supply.
Here’s the picture: You have a group of people who make the stuff you buy. You buy what they have despite the problems it might cause economically, socially, or environmentally. Why do you do this? Part of it is human nature but a big part of it is that human nature is amplified by psychological manipulation through the media which includes newspapers, magazines, movies, music, books, TV shows, our education system and the internet. This manipulation starts when one is born and does not end.
Guess who owns almost all of the media? Of course it’s those who are selling you all the stuff they want to sell. What is more, if the stuff you buy from them causes problems, you are held accountable by the same media that they own that convinces you to buy the stuff. In order to control your buying habits, rules are made that take away some of your individual rights in order to address the problem. Those rules are made by your representatives who are elected with the help of those people mentioned above who own everything.
The crux of the matter is that one small group of unelected wealthy people get wealthier and obtain more control over you and your activities while you are held to blame for everything that goes wrong. So let’s go shopping!