The commercial present and future

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and my daughter and I haven't organized anything yet, but I am not sure what we should do. Of course, there is the breakfast in bed kind of thing and the card made by my daughter go to but, these days there is some kind of expectation that it should be more than that. It is funny how commercialized life has become.

I read a post today about a child throwing a tantrum in a store because they didn't get a toy they wanted and I find it quite a common occurrence these days, more so than when I was a child perhaps as there were repercussions delivered by parents in those days that tempered the temper. I also find it interesting that people sit their kids in front of programs that are designed to create some kind of emotional attachment and then wonder why their children want the conveniently created merchandise of the programs.

In Finland, I have friends saying how their kids go crazy over "Paw Patrol" merchandise, and these are kids under two years of age. We set kids up for a consumer lifestyle from ever decreasing ages I think these days and then simultaneously expect them to make good economic decisions when they are older and admonish them for being attracted to brand names. But, I think this is a lot of the way life is these days as it offers an easy process for parents and the solution to a tantrum in a store is to buy the product the child desires.

Well, we all want things don't we? I have been "promising" to my wife that one day all of this time I have spent will be worth it, that it will reduce our own economic suffering and provide additional possibilities that we won't likely have access to otherwise. My wife would like to one day own a home where we can comfortably live yet at this point, it is well out of our reach. Even when my wife starts working, it would be a struggle and the cost of owning a home will mean a massive loss of other opportunity. Of course my promise is less a promise and more a position of hope which she understands.

Time investment is the most valuable we can make into something as to get anywhere at all, time is a necessary component - nothing happens instantly. It doesn't matter if it is the developing of responsibility and better decision-making skills in children or, developing the resources necessary to go on holiday - it all takes time and how much time we are willing to invest and what we are willing to invest that time into matters for our future possibilities.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours talking with people about Blockchain and possibilities and while they were interested to some degree, once the conversation turned to entertainment topics, their wealth of knowledge in that area was amazing, and the time it must have taken them to get it is quite the investment indeed. It is quite fascinating that people can go from being mildly interested in the technology that can change the world to passionate about who is the best standup comic.

Don't people realize this manipulation of attention? It is about where we are willing to invest our efforts and while some people are going to eventually change the world, most are going to be entertained by what they are fed and believe that their suffering is unrelated. Our desire and suffering are in an intimate relationship, always married.

Well, I don't really know what I am going to do for a Mother's Day present as I can't say something like "Steem has finally made a difference to our lives", not this year anyway. That is actually untrue, it has made a difference to our and many other's lives too. For us it has taken me a great deal of time investment in the hope that one day it will increase opportunity for our family and empower other families too.

Who knows if it is a pipe dream, but in my opinion, working toward a dream is better than living vicariously through the dreams sold by others.

Time will tell, as it always does.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]