Constant Growth

I despise the Western obsession with modernization, the assumption that we should constantly be progressing. Additionally, the students at my school come out of their development classes exclaiming their prestigious futures with NGOs, how they will save the world, and assert that each country has the same conveniences we experience in the West. Universities are breeding modern-day colonists, but in a clandestine way. I do not wish this upon anyone. I envy those living in much simpler ways. I believe that we should just be left to live our everyday lives, savouring each breath, each moment without concern for the next order of business. Why do countries need to improve? To be able to access new markets? Spread democracy and capitalism? These advocates are the same that preach the importance of deiversity. I think we need to move away from standardization of the world and just live. Due to the economic climate, we are going to experience stagnation for a few years. This is society's biggest fear and anxiety, but I believe that it removes pressures. Mostly for those women who are expected to keep up with each season's new fashion trend, despite loving all of the items already flooding their closets. They will have the opportunity to show their creativity in reinventing old trends and will be able to fell nostalgia for the memories created when in an old frock.

I think that ambition breeds unhappiness and consistent dissatisfaction. A depressing life is one in which someone is constantly setting new goals for themselves each time they have reached a previous goal, without ever feeling fulfillment at reaching any one goal.

I find that this obsession has led to the overwhelming presence of depression in our society, the inability to ever be satisfied, and to live up to one's dreams and ambitions. While antidepressants should not be the solution, I find pharmaceutical companies to be completely insensitive with their marketing campaigns. The bottom line is that these medications should not be termed "anti-depressants" in the first place. They would be much more profitable if they were marketed in another way. The last thing that a depressed person wants to hear is that they are depressed. Additionally, the term "anti-depressant" solidifies the fact that they have depression, a shameful diagnosis.