“What would people say? You have be studying a lot to make a lot of money! Look, that is the director, you should worship him! This is a cleaning lady, so you can treat her like a waste. ”
Constant evaluation of people whether they are good enough. Constant effort to cope with the ideal and rank as high as possible in the social ladder. Competing who has a better car, more expensive coat or better job – this is today’s world. We all feel this pressure. Some consciously, some subconsciously. We feel that society functioning like this does not lead to satisfaction and happiness. If we want to be satisfied we need to create satisfied society together. But how to do it?
We are influenced by the environment which we live in and at the same time we are creators of this environment. Many say that we need to stop comparing ourselves with others in order to have better self-esteem. But is that possible?
In the book Sapiens (Harari, 2018), the author explains the social mechanisms in a small group of people. There is a hierarchy and each member has a role. The comparison serves to make everyone to know where he is on the social ladder and what is his job. The key ability which made us “dominate the world” is not greater intelligence but our “socialness” – the ability to work with individuals we do not know. As a result I came to the conclusion that it is not possible to stop comparing with others and to give up what society thinks of us because we are part of it and we have a natural need to be accepted by society and “belong somewhere”.
We are society of low self-esteem. Our talents are suppressed within us and anyone who doesn’t follow the crowd will be excluded from the group.
However the downsizing social setting has a solution. The key is that every member of society reveals their talents (potential, characteristics,…) and works on self-knowledge and personal development. The most important thing is to celebrate individuality and to accept the fact that everyone has different talents. You can’t want a turtle to be good at flying and a fish in running. As a result we will be comparing but we will not compete with each other. We will work together.
Every one person has an influence on other people around him and directly shapes society. We have a tremendous impact on the people around us, the mood in society, even the goods that will be offered in stores. But responsibility comes with power so we must take responsibility for our behavior, influence, social environment and for our lives in general (people in our lives, our mood, work, destiny).
In summary there are 4 points:
- realizing your talents and self-knowledge
- accepting the individuality of others (respect and empathy)
- responsibility for your life and environment
- realizing your influence and being able to change something.
Yes, it’s a hard work that everyone has to do. Unfortunately nobody will come to save us – we have to do it ourselves. And how did we get here? There are many reasons. Ask yourself questions and try to answer them.
Do companies work for people or do we work for businesses? And what is the “company” anyway? What formes it? Does the state care for its citizens or does it live from its citizens? Do the laws serve people or people serve laws? And who benefits from all this? Does the education system make us smarter or does it take creativity away and suppress our talents?
