Instant Gratification & Victimism

May 13, 1607 a group of hungry and oppressed people washed onto the shores of the American colonies to make a new start. July 4, 1776 a country under oppressive rule picked up their guns and fought for independence. September 1, 1939 an entire generation of young men and women join together to fight for freedom and to fight inarguable evil. September 16, 2015 a kid builds a questionable looking clock and is arrested when the school officials overreact, allowing the kid to reach super stardom in the blink of an eye.

What’s different between these 4 dates other than their legitimate impact on our lives? In the first 3 instances the individuals had to work for their progress, in the fourth instance all anyone had to do was be a victim for gain. It’s sad, but the best way to get ahead now a days is to be a victim. You could be the guiltiest person in the world, but if you can be seen as a victim you will get away with nearly anything. In early September two high school football players attacked a referee mid-game and were ejected and suspended from school. After a week of silence, their lawyer advised them to speak publically about what happened. All they said was that they were coerced into acting poorly by one of their coaches. In other words, it’s not their fault - they’re victims.

The ugly brother of victimism is instant gratification. They might even be twins with how similarly they show human character. By definition, instant gratification is the act of wanting to experience pleasure or fulfillment without any hesitation or restraint while victimism is when an individual or group live in constant anxiety because they feel they are owed something by society or someone. You can see how these two definitions can work hand in hand in someone’s life. If you feel like you are owed something, you probably feel like you deserve it now. We may not feel like this is a societal cancer that permeates into nearly everyone’s life, but it’s the culture that everyone is trying to adopt.

We created an entire food industry because we wanted it faster and easier. America has perfected the health industry into a market of quick fixes. If you’re fat and you want to be skinny have surgery. If you back hurts have surgery. Don’t like the way you look, have surgery. We’re one of the only countries that allows pharmaceutical companies to advertise so intensely on Tv, and that’s primarily because we want our problems to be fixed with a pill. Our desire for instant fixes has allowed some companies monopolistic powers on our lives. Just recently a pharmaceutical company raised the cost of a medicine from $13.50 a pill to $750 per pill. The only reason that they can do this is because people like us petitioned the government to help these companies make more medicine without giving anyone else authoritative powers. None of their drugs are patented, but we the people demanded that they could make medicine without the threat of another company copying the drug. Why did we do that? Because we thought it would make the drugs cheaper. Now we have to spend $750 per pill to keep someone alive.

I can't imagine what it takes to feel like you are owed something by so many people you've never met. I was raised under the idea that you deserve nothing, therefore everything you get is a blessing. Have you ever lived so modestly that when someone brings you a cup of coffee you legitimately feel blessed? And yet the people who riot and protest have some of the most expensive capitalist gadgets. I lose respect to people who protest greedy and oppressive organizations when they themselves wear expensive clothes and have the latest phones. The people we should protest are those clothes makers and phone companies because they don't have to pay taxes and they use child labor to charge you gregarious prices. But instead it's the local business owner whose windows get smashed and their products get stolen. 

We may live in a selfish world but that doesn’t mean that we have to be a part of it. It all starts with taking credit for your mistakes. If you’re overweight, it’s not McDonalds fault. If your back hurts, it might be because you need to strengthen it.  If you think your life sucks, it just might be your fault. When we worship ourselves, we quickly realize how ungodly we are. We’re not perfect, we’re not innocent angels, we are people who make mistakes and we need to own up to that. Once we start to take responsibility the whole dynamic of our life can change. It’s that simple.