The Wolves of the West.

The convenience of consumption is a distraction.

I believe that a giant piece of the mental health decline in the US is actually our subconscious reminding our conscious that we have been conditioned to live in a way that is unsustainable, counter-intuitive to our true form as human beings, and deadly to our true purpose on earth. We deny our creativity, our very spirits and bodies. We are literally killing ourselves trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Tribal rituals used to include communion with others, dancing, singing, a common-good mindset, art and food, unique gifts that everyone possessed and shared, and when given the right circumstances to nourish them, led to a full flowering purpose within each of us. It led to happiness.

So why do we lack purpose? Why are we more alone than ever when we are technically more connected than ever?

Because most of us can no longer afford to get to know our true selves, and corporate greed is the reason.

It’s the last month of the decade, and time is money. Most are in survival mode, and the hustle to stay alive is more prominent and pressing than the will to actually live. Team no sleep, positivity or nothing, these are all toxic mentalities widely accepted as the standard to success. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and will keep us exactly where we are: over worked, under paid, striving for a higher education by going into debt for the rest of our lives so that we too, might get lucky enough to have a shot at financial freedom. Or treating our illnesses with drugs that create MORE illness instead of fortifying the importance of a balanced diet. There is little to no transparency in the contents of our food, water, air, or the way our produce and animal products are grown. We could literally eat and exercise ourselves healthy, especially if our politicians actually legislated higher standards for us, but the pharmaceutical companies would go bankrupt. So they pay off a senator or twelve to make sure they can continue to legally fly under the radar. People in power are paying to keep us sick. Corporations can charge whatever they want for medication completely unregulated, and we need health insurance to help cover costs. God forbid we develop an expensive illness, our insurance has the right to drop us from our plan to leave us unaided in our fight to live.

We are taught that if we work hard enough we can afford our own home, only to find the cost of living skyrocketing while the average employee wage stays the same. Billion dollar CEO’s are awarded tax breaks that leave them paying less than the average American. We vote on politicians who promise to help our children, heal our communities, to make us safer and happier, and end up with corruption that leaves us so much worse off than before. Why are we dying to maintain these half-lives? And what is the price tag for it?

Well, honestly, who cares? When we're kept on a steady diet of “stuff” to distract us, we miss the signs completely. We buy what we cant afford, only for our once precious items to end up in landfills. We follow government laid curricula taught by underpaid teachers that prepare us not for life, but for consumption. If you grew up on TV dinners and trips to Walmart like I did, this is where the programming to become another cog in the machine begins. We are built for sewing our natural gifts and hard earned money right back into the hands of the morally bankrupt. We fight their unwinnable wars because they say it’s about pride, bravery and freedom, when it’s actually about ego, greed, control and resources. Why are we active participants in a system that will continue to oppress us when the harsh truth is that if and when you zoom all the way out, we are so very clearly fucked?

This oppression only increases one hundred fold if you happen to be any class of minority. The war on women, race, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, free thinkers, and TRUTH feels like chaos, confusion, depression and anxiety.

Make no mistake, this is not an accident. This is by design. If too many of us "wake up”, rise in power, and begin to hold a microscope to the underbelly of the US, the merry men at the top would lose everything. Trust they will make sure this does not happen. They will continue to double down on their greed to secure their futures, while we become increasingly sick, hungry, tired, and hounded by the inherent truth that something is very wrong.

This is exactly where they want us.

Guess what happens when life gets this hard: We self medicate. Pop a Xanax and chalk it up to depression. We work longer hours. We get more stuff. We take out a third job. We shop on Amazon. We see a holistic healer or try a new diet fad to try to solve our problems. We tune out or over indulge to numb the pain of our far-too-heavy-to-handle reality. We’ve come too far in this direction to turn back now.

Who benefits from this?

The wolves of Western culture.

We are the willfully ignorant sheep.

The land of the free and home of the brave is now a place where no one is truly free. Politicians are cowards only out for themselves, honesty is optional, facts are “fake news”, and misinformation is a prevalent and necessary tool used to manipulate weak minds into furthering the agenda.

Everyone benefits from a healthy, well-educated population except those who make a profit from disease and ignorance.

If you’re still with me, thank you for allowing me the space to rant, I woke up today with this on my heart so heavy. If you feel compelled in any way to make change, start within. Start by seeking to understand the truth. Research. Be an example of a proper moral compass. Keep intelligent, innovative people around you. Connect with people who don’t look like you. Dance, sing, create, take care of your body and mind and encourage others to do the same. Kill your ego, and see the world for what it is.

OURS.