You Don't Have to Care-Do you ever feel like there are too many people and organizations that insist that you care about issues that you would rather not even bother with? I certainly do. It seems that everyday we are bombarded by messages about poverty, climate change, social inequality, energy crises, diseases that need to be cured and all manner of other social and environmental "issues". There are many individuals, causes and organizations that will ask us for our money, and perhaps even worse, for our sympathy. The marketing behind these types of "causes" is even more despicable than the normal marketing dealing with standard consumer products and services. Usually when someone tries to sell you on a normal product or service they attempt to make you feel good and usually the idea behind the item that they're trying to sell is that it will improve your life in some way (or at least bring you some type of temporary pleasure or enjoyment). But those who are trying to convince you to care about political, social or environmental issues often take the opposite approach and make you feel bad, scared or "concerned" about whatever the issue is. They're asking you to care about something that may not help you directly at all, so instead of being encouraging, their message is depressing and designed to make you feel sympathy towards whatever they're selling. They know that for many people, the best way to get to their wallets is to go through their hearts. Basically, they're selling you guilt and business is booming. But you should know that you don't have to buy into it; you don't have to care. "Guilt is like a bag of fuckin' bricks. All ya gotta do is set it down."- Al Pacino, The Devil's Advocate Whether you want to call it "guilt", "concern" or "caring", if you don't like being expected to feel these things and worry about these numerous issues, it's important that you realize this and do whatever makes you, as an individual, happy. There's no need to play along and be a pawn in someone else's political or financial agenda, especially if you're not getting anything out of it and it doesn't make you feel good. I understand that there are many people who will harshly judge you or even assume that you are a "bad person" if you don't conform and display enough sympathy or guilt about many of these issues, but these people are the worst kind of sheep. It's important to be honest with yourself and if that makes you "evil" in other people's eyes, then so be it. They don't matter. And seriously, what good is forcing yourself to worry about this kind of stuff anyway? Who are you really helping? Is it really worth it to just to look like a good guy; to look like you care? I know that you might be asking yourself "but aren't some of those issues important and don't they deserve some attention, at the very least, from a pragmatic standpoint?" The answer is "yes, some of them are important". And if you're the type of person who gets excited about trying to help out with those types of issues, then by all means do it. I encourage that kind of thing because if enough other people are willing to put in the time and effort to "save the world", then that means that I don't have to. There seems to be so many people who care about these different issues and so it only makes sense to leave them to the people who are truly passionate about them. As for the rest of us, we should concern ourselves with whatever we are passionate about; even if it is something much more selfish than those kinds of larger social and environmental concerns. Everyone has different parts to play and not everyone wants to be a hero. And it's extremely repressive, hypocritical and pointless for someone to try to force you to care about something that you really don't. Never be afraid to decline to care and walk your own path, doing whatever suits you best. Just because something is supposed to be "good", doesn't mean that it's good for you. Sometimes Apathy is Bliss. - False Prophet |
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