iNeed

Remember when you got your iPod? How happy you must have been? All my music in one place! How often, I wonder, do we succumb to the pressures of social standards? Don't we work, eat, drink, get married and make babies, just because of social standards? And who set those standards for us? Do you think it was someone thoughtful, idealistic, or was it just the herd - the masses that built their own jail, a trench dug out by the hooves of the sheep, marching before us. And as the years passed, the groove was getting deeper, as the walls were getting higher, until we no longer could see what was going on around us...let alone - escape.

Why do I need an iPod? Why do I need an iPhone? Because...everybody has them. Because, as I walked into work two years ago!, with my CDwalkman, my co-workers said Get in the 21st century, man! So, since I didn't want an iPod, and the ridiculous $200-300 price tag just didn't cut it for me, I was ridiculed, because I had chosen tostay old-fashioned and listen to my CDs. Then my cell-phone company GAVE me a phone that could play music. So, I kept my $300. 

But what about all the rest of the "necessities"? You NEED a flat-screen TV, then you NEED cable TV, you NEED to pay extra for the HBO, the sports channels, the other movie channels...just so you can keep your hypnotized pretty face on the eye-magnet. 

I'm guilty, oh, yes I'm guilty still of selling my soul for this material nonsence. As me and alkA look around the house these days, we realize how much LIFE we've wasted, buying THINGS. Life, we've sold, so we could make money, so we could buy things we don't need. And we're lucky, cause we grew up in Bulgaria. We know what it's like to live with next to no material possessions. One pair of jeans, two pairs of shoes and one new t-shirt per year, even if it had to say "I piss on everyone" on it. I used to wear my PizzaHut uniform t-shirt to my band's shows - yes, as a mock, but also, because I didn't care. As skaters we used to buy used skateboards, and second-hand t-shirts, worn out, torn and faded. And we were happier than ever!

So, how about Americans? I was stunned to see how some people couldn't make ends meet with a salary, which is enough for my parents to live a month! (Oh, and by the way they eat and drink as much as their bodies allow them. No, they're not starving at all.) And I saw it then, just as I see it today. Americans NEED the cable TV, the ridiculous car payment, the insane phone bill with 3G internet and applications, the monthly payments of INTEREST ONLY on the credit card debt, not to mention the mortgage for their castles, full of empty rooms, that they forget they've set up as a gym years ago, while the 24 Hour Fitness still sucks up money out of their account every month. What's even better - they don't even go to the gym. And if only it stopped there. Then they need an X-Box, a PlayStataionIII, a Wii, the newest iPhone, the biggest soda and the newest movie. But they don't wanna just rent it. They BUY it! Sometimes I think Bulgarians eat better than Americans, because they can afford it.


Ever wonder why Americans LOVE TO WORK? From early childhood! They start at 13! At that age I was riding my bike all over town, skateboarding and singing around a campfire with my friends. I'll do the best that I can, so as my son will be doing the same, rather than selling burgers with fries to angry overweight assholes.


I've written it before in "Trading a TV for a Fireplace" and I'll mention it here. Nothing beats a night without a TV! You can look your spouse, friend, lover, your parents or kids, or yourself in the eye and experience so much more, than you would, watching the re-runs of Spider Man (America's favorite movie).


Well, what about our spiritual life? The iron grip of organized religion, the churches, the believes, (the donations)...what room do they leave us to experience the nirvana of self-realization, self-observance and a higher state of consciousness?


The social pressures of the herd, my friends, have changed our subconsciousness into a mantra-chanting mechanism of obedience and guilt. What's strange is that sometimes freedom is just a glimpse away, but it's hard to see through the glass-walls, because you don't believe you deserve what you see.

 

Addendum:

Ever wonder why your PC got too slow? Ever watch the Mac Vs. PC witty commersials? If you own an iPod, press Ctrl, Alt and Delete on your computer, go to Processes and see with how many iPrograms your computer is constantly jammed! Even though you haven't plugged the iPod in for weeks! Seems like your iPod infected your PC. I think you may NEED a new computer, this one's too slow!