America's Pants

How come I can't just have what I want when I want it?

This isn't really a problem. As Americans, we just think it is. I promise this isn't a strongly-worded hate post about how Americans are gluttons and swine and we all need a reality check because there are starving people in Africa (not to make light of that, just using it here because that is an argument commonly used). I love America. I think we've made some pretty long strides, or perhaps leaps, throughout the timeline of humanity and I appreciate this. But I fear that these long strides may have caused our pants to rip in a couple places that aren't so flattering.

In too many cases, I have found that American culture equates instant gratification with revolutionary cultural and technological advances - an incredibly dangerous thing. Convenience is glorified and it, to be honest, terrifies me. Now you'd think that I'd be satisfied by the counterculture of today's American society that strives to embrace inconvenience, old-school, and uniqueness. But because of this, "unique" and "different" have only become labels and fashion statements that people attempt to fit themselves into. And even worse is that we KNOW this. We fully acknowledge the fact that we have twisted those meanings. Hence, the term "hipster" now has a negative connotation.

Now instead of going on about my opinion on the answer I posed in the beginning of this post, I'd rather I just let it lie. The internet will fare just as well without my opinion and I don't feel led to share, I simply would just rather people think about it themselves. Is the question relevant - is there a need for it? Does it make sense to ask today? Why or why can we not have what we want when we want it? Is it healthy for human beings to be able to do so? Are we better or worse off with more availability and ease?

Thanks for reading - hope everyone's Monday was bearable.