Escapism

 Good day, World.

     One of the greatest financial establishments in the modern world is the industry of escapism. While this multifaceted economic concept has several methods of implementation, they all strive to achieve the same purpose: make huge profits off of distracting the public from reality. From this, we see the film industry, record labels, vacation package companies, technology conglomerates, international sports leagues, alcohol producers, and various other industries built with this singular purpose. Of course, there are sections of many of these same sectors of business that attempt to augment rather than distort or obfuscate, but oftentimes these comparably small endeavors are either corrupted or altogether subsumed by larger companies that utilize them for their own purposes. In short, escaping reality is big money and has been for a very long time. 

     The main selling point of these commodities is to distract from the crushing grip of a nigh-feudal level of living that many of those same industries help to create. Nestle pumps water out of areas that need it desperately, ruining ecosystems and causing droughts to water tables around the world while selling "Pure Life" water. Chocolatiers use child slaves to gather their cocoa beans in desperate countries, marketing the fruit of their labor as things like "bliss" and "heaven" while putting actual children through hell. Workers in third world countries manufacture promotional materials for multi-million dollar movies, flights of fancy and spectacle insultingly thrust into their faces as the whip cracks behind them to work faster and do more. Even the companies that Americans work for market their products as silver bullets toward happiness, their own workers tired and struggling as the price of existence is steadily inflated to a staggering amount above what the average American can make. If the people were allowed to think instead of the constant push to consume, they would be too angry to continue making money off of, after all. Wear this brand, eat from this restaurant, drive this car, and listen to this artist. Happiness comes from never thinking and always doing.

     Unfortunately, this formula seems to work for many, choosing to immerse themselves in whatever fiction they deem appropriate rather than learn of anything past what they are told to. People erupt into violent conflict over sports teams that know nothing of their lives, and even scripted contests like the WWE have caused fanatics to riot. Followers get genuinely upset over changes in writing styles, film adaptations, and fictional characters, their emotional investment wasted on something that is not real and has no actual effect on them. Listeners become bitterly embroiled in the lives of the artists they listen to rather than taking their music at face value, and some artists have lost their lives behind the misplaced emotional turmoil of a crazed fan. There is no logic to what people find themselves passionate about, but when said passion is directed at something completely meaningless, it has been co-opted by some corporation in order to profit. 

     While I know time is meaningless, in this new year I am asking those reading to consider that. There are so many exciting events happening, so many people with real, inspiring stories to learn about, and so many new advancements pushing forward that can be paid attention to. Do not waste your emotions on fiction, as we need more people who deeply care about real life in order to help progress ourselves to a better future. Fiction is made to sedate and distract, to rob us of our emotions in order to manipulate our money out of our hands. It's like cartoons from the 80's and 90's: created with the specific purpose of selling toys. The cartoons were simply an advertisement that they knew would end up causing the children to essentially annoy the money out of their parents' pockets. 

Well, we're all adults now.