We could solve half our problems if we only spent time looking at them.

But, instead, we spend time and energy on distractions and blame.  Distractions like Facebook, twitter, texting, tv, magazines, alcohol, and drugs.  And blame, as in “it’s not my fault, must be somebody else’s” – like our parents, our ex, our siblings, or even our children.  I often hear the word “entitlement” associated with today’s youth.  Why? Because we’ve become a culture of entitlement and un-accountability.  “I deserve everything I want and am accountable for nothing I do.  If I do something wrong, it’s because somebody else screwed up, and I had no choice.” A victim.  And since, by its nature, a victim is helpless, all a victim can do is throw blame around and drown itself in distraction.  A victim is not empowered to deal with its problems. You don’t have to look very far to see how this happens.  Kids get cure-all drugs for the slightest thing wrong with them.  Oh, you had a bad day?  Here’s an antidepressant, honey.  And if you question it (like I did), “behavioral approaches don’t have the science to back them up, so we just go with drugs.”  By behavioral approach, I mean fostering a positive attitude, seeing if there’s a sleep deficit, looking at diet, etc.  Or perhaps a parent thinks their kid is an A student.  But the teacher feels otherwise.  Well, certainly that teacher did a piss poor job of teaching the child, or recognizing his or her gifts.  Most likely some pressure on said teacher and principle will change things for the little darling.  Of course, parents do sometimes have a point.  But how often do they not?  Teachers aren’t the authority figures they used to be, and their students know it.   Sadly, with all this pampering, kids aren’t even given a chance.  If something happens they don’t like, they’re learning to a)threaten a lawsuit, and/or b) take a pill.  Blame somebody else, and try to forget about it.  Personal responsibility as a skill is becoming lost.

You know why all this is happening?  The good old greenback.  The almighty dollar.  Big pharma has loads of $ behind studies that tout the positive benefits of every single drug available… because they sell every single drug available.  If we’re victims, we’re the perfect audience to market to. We can’t do anything ourselves.  We’ll look outward to find what we need – and pay for it.  We’ll seek things to distract us from dealing with our problems and we’ll seek whatever’s easiest.  Lose 10 lbs in 10 days without moving a muscle or changing your diet!  Have a “healthy”  homestyle meal ready in minutes!  Advertising has moved our culture away from what’s right and to what’s right now.  Its’ all about speed and ease.   If you have to put any effort in, or the results take a while to see, it’s dead in the water from a marketing perspective.  And given that most distractions we participate in are laden with commercials, we’re bombarded with that same message over and over again.  Speed and ease, speed and ease.  It’s not your fault.  It’s not your fault.  Oh, and also doctors and scientists are the authority. So as long as we think they give something the thumb’s up, it’s golden.  By the way, did you know that scientists can be bought, or they can skew their results?  Or that data can be taken out of context?  Or studies that illustrate the harmful effects of certain drugs, foods, etc. can be effectively obliterated by powerful lobbying groups?  Like smoking, for example.  Do you think some scientists knew before the rest of the world that inhaling smoke and nicotine is bad for you?  Or, even milk. Oh, wait, you probably still think milk does a body good.  Well, it does a cow’s body good.  “Cow”… obesity… connection?  I’ll save it for a later article.

The deal is this, you’ve got problems?  Someone can make money off you.  The less willing you are to look inward, the more money they can make.  It might be nice for you to believe that how you feel now is not your fault.  But, it’s even nicer for the people selling you stuff.