The Imagined Order We Live In
We exist within an imagined order that has shaped us from birth. This fabricated system conditions us to perpetually worry about the future rather than inhabit the present moment. Since the agricultural revolution, humanity has become trapped in an endless cycle of anxiety about what lies ahead.
Our minds are consumed with concerns: what we'll eat tomorrow, what we'll wear, how we'll afford a car, find housing in the city, get married, discover love, pay for our children's education. The list never ends because the system is designed that way.
We've been fed artificial desires through consumerism and romanticism. Society tells us that happiness comes from consuming more products and accumulating experiences. The message is clear: to experience everything is to become happier. But this raises a troubling question—why do we need breaks from our own lives? Why must we escape on vacations to feel lighter? This suggests something is fundamentally wrong with how we're living.
Those at the top, the resource-holders with vast wealth, perpetuate and strengthen this imagined order. They ensure we never escape because our entrapment serves their interests. We are the real slaves; they are the kings of this new era. The capitalists, the governments—they all benefit from our belief that we must constantly grow the economy, build more, consume more.
But this growth is unnecessary. Perhaps true happiness lies not in moving forward but in returning to something we've lost. Instead of chasing an endless future of artificial needs, we might find contentment by stepping back from this imagined order altogether.
