Think Different

Steve Jobs came up with a marketing campaign a few years ago that centered around the slogan, "Think Different." The commercials and advertisements instilled the values of not conforming, thinking outside the box and even showed images of our most historical figures to reiterate that message to you. The company preached through its campaign, that by thinking differently you would buy Apple products.

In essence, their marketing campaign completely contradicts everything Apple really wants from their customers. Apple's company goals align right with every other company, and that's "Think the Same."

People in every culture must fulfill a certain role. In China it may be to obey your government, but in the United States it is to consume! Our duty as citizens where we live is to consume as much as we can, the entire world relies on us to do so.

I'll tie this into what my entire point of the post it; our culture wants you to feel shitty about yourself. That may not be their number one priority, but in order for us to consume up to our potential we can never be satisfied with ourselves. Someone who is completely secure with themselves won't feel a need to continually buy things that they don't necessarily need to fill some void in their lives.

Every day we are continually shown images of what we're supposed to look like and what we're supposed to have. If we don't fit that image we are then somehow incomplete. That's OK though, because with all the different products out there that help alter our appearances, we may one day be complete and match the images we're shown in the magazines or the movies. This leads to both girls and guys going to extreme lengths that can even be very unhealthy to obtain an appearance that for most of us is physically impossible. But we're told that if we don't fit that image, well then we're not good enough.

This thought process goes beyond physical appearances as well. We're told that our worth as human beings is measured by the things we own, not the quality of our character. Each product we own helps define who we are. You're even supposed to sum up a person just by the type of car they have (even though in most countries only 5-10% of the population even own a vehicle). Social class used to be defined by whether you could put 3 meals on the table for your family, now it's defined by the different brand names we own. Once again, the advertisements center around the thought that if we don't own the products that the people in the images are seen having then we once again are somehow incomplete. This in turn causes some Americans to work relentlessly, never truly taking time to enjoy their lives, in an endless cycle to obtain things that they don't even need.

There will be some people that read this and will conclude that I'm weird and ridiculous for even writing this, because well, this is different. But I want people to be aware of what their culture is doing to them. There's a reason that although we may be one of the very top countries financially; psychology studies have often found us to be in the middle of the pack or bottom when it comes to measuring happiness. Americans I believe are by far the most insecure people in the world. That doesn't mean that everyone is, but a majority of us will constantly find flaws in ourselves and are uncomfortable in our own skin.

I'm asking everyone to just think a bit differently. And when I say that I don't mean go paint your fingernails black, get a mohawk, or even turn into a complete hipster on us. What I'm saying is recognize that everyone really does have a unique skill or attribute to offer. Stop being so concerned with what you lack, and recognize what you're good at. Stop being so caught up and concerned with what others may think. If there is something you truly want to do, but you may be afraid of how others could perceive you, say "Fuck It!" Do what makes you happy, not the people around you.

I'm nowhere near being exempt from everything I've talked about, but the more you're aware of what is trying to control you the better off you are. A lot of us feel as if we're immortal, but we're all alike because we all will die at some point, and life really is pretty short. None of us have the time to be caught up in materialistic things. We should wake up everyday and do what we want to, not what society tells us we want to!