Stress

09/30/2009 Human Observations
We’ve been so successfully distracted by the massive influx of recent socio-political rhetoric, we have no actual working grasp of the stress that is increasing within us all. Our most important issue is not the public option, the Iraq or Afghan War, unemployment, the national deficit, racism, poverty, or even the recession. That which debilitates us is our own reaction to participation, or lack thereof, in the current economic system. A person must consider how to reside indoors (out of the elements), meet daily dietary needs, maintain a wardrobe sufficient for regional weather and social conditions, and recreate sufficiently to avoid absolute insanity … every single day. Everything that we do is designed for this daily maintenance. If we lived in “a little house on the prairie”, it would be a more simple matter to care for our living requirements. But we have accepted total dependence on corporate economics to provide for our income producing abilities. We have voluntarily surrendered our economic freedom to a corporate entity that has absolutely no interest in our personal economy or freedom. As we continue to absorb the economic pressures exerted by profit-driven businesses, we over-accumulate the stresses that accompany this economic exploitation. As long as we can stay afloat, so to speak, we endure the pressure. However, when we can no longer pay the costs imposed by corporate administrators, the accumulation of stress begins to wear down our mental and physical coping abilities. Much of the disease that afflicts us already exists within us, prior to debilitation; and is simply exacerbated by stress. The heart of the problem must be considered if stress is to be reduced. Pharmaceutical and insurance companies, as well as politicians would have us focus on the symptoms of the problems of stress, rather than the actual causes, because such misdirected focus insures the tax base and profit margins. With personal freedom comes the responsibility of personal economy. If we CHOOSE to surrender this freedom, we have no right to complain when our economic taskmasters manipulate us into servitude, poverty, and eventual hospitalization.