The Trap of Materialism: Why the Endless Rat-Race to the Top Will Only Make You Miserable:
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Part of the reason why I'm so vocal against the wave of New Money extravagance and excessive material boasting stems from how much it is ruining our perception of what a truly successful person looks like, and how success is actually measured. Social media is inundated with content that encourages us and makes us believe that the only path to true success, happiness, and a levelled-up life is through the constant, never-ending pursuit of material wealth, oftentimes at the cost of our own integrity, morals, and well-being. Material wealth that is not based on quality and tasteful inclinations, but on the excessive consumerism and tacky, insecure-driven flexing of expensive items for the sake of the brand and price tag solely.
We are being told by the algorithm that our lives are insufficient if they do not measure up to the curated standards that influencers portray on their social media accounts. We are constantly being bombarded with an onslaught of stimuli from flex-culture that makes us feel inadequate if we happen to not compare in our real lives, creating a need in us to want to achieve that same level of material wealth in an attempt to gain a sense of validation we would otherwise not be able to receive from the masses.
This rat race to the top of the consumerism and materialistic pyramid is killing us. It's making us feel anxious, depressed, and unappreciative of the things we have in life, making us lose sight of the things that are actually important, making us fall for online scams, skewing our live perspectives and goal settings, and making us worship people based on their perceived status and online persona. This is not a healthy way to live, and most people in our society are trapped in this cycle without even realizing it.
We are being told that pursuing a meaningful career and building wealth the correct way through secure long-term investments and education is not worthy, instead, we are being sold a fantasy of instant gratification and get-rich-quick schemes that appeal to the most immature and easily impressionable of our society: the youth. Chasing after things like fame, money by any means necessary, and hedonism will only leave you depressed. Living a life that has no real, tangible fulfillment or peace, where the opinions and perceptions of others towards you keep you in a constant state of worry is not a life worth living.
As a society and generation, we need to learn to break free from this insidious and toxic cycle of worshipping material wealth, online personas, and fast pleasures that don't deliver any lasting fulfillment. What truly matters in this world are our connections to people, how much good we can impart to others, and our accomplishments through hard work and dedication (e.g. achieving an education, building long-term financial stability, creating a name for yourself).
Take some time to reassess your life and ask yourself if the goals that you have set forward are truly yours, or if you have been influenced by the society around you to want to achieve something just to be perceived in a certain kind of way. Ask yourself, are the activities I engage in truly satisfying me as a person, or am I simply complying with the world around me to fit in, despite making me unhappy? The quicker you are able to assess the things that are and aren't helping you live a good life, the less time you will waste chasing after things that will only keep you from it.
