Should Status Be Turned On Its Head ?
“Physiological and neurological reactions are directly and profoundly shaped by social interaction”
One of the biggest challenges we face in our lives is dealing with our constant tendency of analyzing how our social status ranks in each social encounter. Many of us compare ourselves to our friends, coworkers, parents, and the guy with the Porsche or even professional athletes! This is not a healthy way of living. Status assessing can drive us towards being materialistic, create stress and at times drive us right into a deep depression.
Once you have shelter, food, safety, close friends, and good in health, should anything else matter? Should we admire people that drive Hummers, Porches or Ferraris? With the worlds resources being quickly depleted by status seekers, and global warming a serious issue, shouldn’t we begin to shun status?
Instead of admiring people with exotic sports cars or Hummers should we reject them? Shouldn’t people be measured by how much they contribute to the world towards creating a fair, healthy and just society?
Its’ a good question. We all would love to upgrade. From a Porsche to a Ferrari. A house in the burbs to a house on the beach. Walk around with an iPad. But how does THAT contribute towards building a better society? It doesn’t. Not one bit. Maybe instead of hanging in our social bubbles and protecting what we perceive as being “ours” we need to let it go. We need to look outside of ourselves and see what truly will make the world a better place.
I have been sponsoring an African child for some time now. I believe that Africa is one of the world’s greatest challenges and that the more we are able to help educate people on that continent, the better the world will be in the future, especially in terms of future global population. Right now China and India are craving for status and Africa is not far behind. We all know the world cannot support us all. So I hope my African kid can figure out a better way.
In the mean while maybe we can shun status. It’s a quiet revolution but something the world needs RIGHT NOW! So the next time you see a Hummer pay no attentions to it. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Really.
What really matters in your life?
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Tags: global population, social status, status