America’s Unrelenting Passion
By: Mick, June 19th, 2007
…for never bothering to take that extra step to figure shit out. - Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone.
That is the majority of a quote from an unflattering article about Rudy Giuliani and why he’s not the answer for president. But I liked it much more outside of that context and I think there is great truth in the sentiment.
Americans, and probably most people around the world, are often content to believe what they are told and operate within the confines of pre-determined, inefficient and often corrupt systems of politics, economics and education. But we can leave politics aside for the sake of this quick post.
We are taught to go to school and “get an education”, then we are pushed into the working world and told that we should buy a home, get married and start having children. Many people seem pretty content with that lifestyle and I am certainly not questioning that approach. But I also see many people that are going through the motions, simply doing things because it is what they are supposed to be doing at a certain age, as dictated by societal norms and expectations. These are the people that the above quote refers to - the people that never bother to learn what might make them happor or what they really want to do with their lives. These people are everywhere, generally miserable and usually capable of passing little bits of that misery on to those around them.
We see these people floating through jobs that they hate, paying mortgages and credit card debts they really can’t afford and secretly longing for some sort of unlikely financial windfall that will free them from their miserable existence. The windfall never comes. But life goes on and it usually gets worse. People get older, they start looking for happiness in ill-conceived marriages and sometimes having children. As they realize that a loveless marriage isn’t the answer, we end up with divorcees, often with young children, who have now managed to spread the misery they originally created by never taking the time to figure shit out about what they want to do with their lives.
It’s a sad and growing circle of life that is entirely curable if people want to take the time to explore their options and attempt to pursue true happiness. Not every person is going to happy working 9 to 5 and paying down a 30-year mortgage on a 4 bedroom house in the suburbs. In America we grow up surrounded by that culture, so it’s sometimes difficult to think outside of its confines. But I think it is becoming more apparent that many of us need to take the extra step to learn what it is that might make us happy and take steps to reach that goal.
Tags: american culture, entrepreneurship, job search, tips for college graduates
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