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Churning in Billions of Dollars from Human Insecurities

Behind every cent you spend lies the unsuspecting, almost furtive human insecurity. Whether you like it or not, like a puppeteer, your insecurities are compelling you to dish out every dollar to satisfy your quest for adequacy or in other words, perfection. First of all, there should be a distinguishment between two types of human insecurities - valid and for the lack of a better word, invalid. Or perhaps 'ridiculous,' I think, would be a perfect fit. Pun not intended.

Let's talk about the valid insecurities. Food and clothing advertisements remind you that the human body is inadequate on its own; we need to be nourished and clothed to survive in the different climates on Earth. Other than Mcdonalds, our stomachs constantly remind us about our unquestionable need to eat. However, when it comes to clothing, the argument as to whether clothes are really essential can be tricky. From prehistoric times until today, humans have been surviving without clothes. If you cannot imagine this, the Discovery Channel will enlighten you. But then again, there wouldn't be adorable Eskimos living in Alaska without winter wear. Thus, it is difficult to draw the line as to where clothes are to be regarded as valid and essential to us, be it due to survival or culture, or invalid and ridiculous because it just seems fashionable.

This is where the invalid or ridiculous, not to mention totally more interesting, category surfaces. When it comes to clothing, you cannot talk about fashion without brands: the brand is fashion. Since clothes are essential in the majority of cultures today, designers just thought, 'Why not make these insecure suckers pay a whole lot more by brainwashing them about how fashion equates to perfection?' Deep down, do you really think Christian Dior and Coco Chanel really cared about how great their dresses made you look? Well, according to history lane, the only thing that distinguished them from other designers was the amount of capital pumped into their advertisements. What everyone desires from the consumer is their money. Nothing else. But they depend on your insecurities to cash your dollar in.

So Valentino tells you that your $10 dress isn't good enough for you. It fails to accentuate your best curves. Rolex declares you king with its watches. Omega convinces you that you will be able to tell time much better with it (like as if you are an idiot without it). Louis Vuitton says, 'Your outfit will never be complete without one of my classy bags.' Prada exclaims, 'My purses will raise you a class up from the inadequte lower class, baby.' Hugo Boss whispers, 'You don't smell like a man without me and no woman would bed you if you smelled like you' (as if life is all about whether women will bed you or not). Bobby Brown tells you that the colour of your face is pale without her cosmetics. Shisheido insists that your skin needs to mirror that of Snow White to be beautiful. Forever 21 bestows you with youth. Calvin Klein underwear promises to drench you in the sex appeal which you do not have. Even Cotton On makes you appear like a cool kid. Apple confirms you as a stylish, IT savvy genius. Elizabeth Arden assures you that there is such a thing as growing old youthfully. Jean Yip will bless you with perfect wavy tresses you cannot get by doing it yourself. Slimfit ensures you the eye of every man by giving you fuller breasts. Mary Chia insists that your body looks better like a stick. Beauty magazines are constantly telling and reminding you that every part of you is never good enough so cosmetic surgeons promise to correct your imperfections.

Each time a person, brand or product engages you on what it can offer you, it is indirectly telling you that you are inadequate. Its creators and marketeers know you are insecure and they will convince you that every part of you has a gap, a gap that it can fill. This isn't an entry about rebelling against brands and abstaining from purchasing the products you love. We all have weaknesses for certain brands and there are products that do wonders for our face and body. I, for one, adore Dior cosmetics and Clarins skincare. But what we really need to understand about consumerism is that it is far from our common perception. When you purchase a whitening emulsion from Dior, what you are really buying is security. You believe that using the emulsion will secure you of a radiant and smooth complexion, one which you think you lack. Even if it does not work, you continue to use it because psychologically, doing something about your perceived imperfect complexion is better than doing nothing about it. It provides you with a sense of security. In the end, if it still fails to work, you go out and get another whitening emulsion from a different brand, hoping that it will provide you with the sense of security you seek. The same goes for fashion. Once you own a pair of G-Star jeans, you feel that you have secured a sense of style and now you are confident to hit the streets and show it off to potential mates. You see, hitting the streets clad in luxury brands provides you the opportunity to show something about yourself off. Sashaying down town with a beautifully made up face enables you to show off the enhanced features of your face. The key thing here is to 'show off' or parade. We have been convinced that there is nothing on our natural selves worth showing off. Thus we believe that we can purchase our sense of worth through products.

Therefore, if you are a successful businessman, you will know that the greatest money-making investment lies in basing your business on anything that promises to eradicate human insecurity.

Insecurity is something that's there all the time. I've never been crippled by it.
~Catherine Keener

The futile desire of desires

Much time has strolled by until the memory of how incredibly laggy my computer is has missed me. On the other hand, I'm just plain lazy to transform my thoughts into words. You see, I am a genius in my head.



Every theory I think up about life fits perfectly like a complete puzzle. The only problem is when I attempt to interpret that perfect puzzle into language. Suddenly everything begins to fall apart. Come on, I am the sole person who knows what goes on in my brain so who is to say I am not a genius in there? But of course you can argue the other way and claim that how can I be a genius if there is no one to witness it?

You can have it both ways. I guess that's how it is in life.

I was mulling over some theories a couple of afternoons back and realised that the true human desire can never be claimed. First of all, desire is intangible; it is a mere idea. What is desire? Can you feel it, touch it, or smell it? If it is as good as 'nothing,' then why the strong need for it? Yet you cannot deny that your life depends on it. Since desires are ideas, how will you ever lay claim on an idea or rather, thin air?

For example, money is one of the greatest desires in life. My pastor reckons that our real desire lies in what money can buy instead of money itself. But do you really desire that Louis Vuitton bag or the status that it brings you? Of course, status is just an idea. Perhaps this example is much too common. Everybody knows that people invest in luxury brands because they know that people know luxury brands equate to a showcase of wealth. You don't even have to be wealthy in reality to perform a showcase of wealth. Yet again you need to ask yourself, is having a wealthy status your ultimate desire? A closer goal would be knowledge: you want people to know that you know that strapping an LV bag over your arm is as good as having the wealth label sealed on your forehead. But why the need for knowledge? Differentiation. We constantly hunger to differentiate ourselves from others. Well, the core desire, I guess, would be self-confidence. Yet if confidence is again, an idea, what is so difficult about achieving it? If confidence is an emotion within us, shouldn't we be the sole controllers of gaining it?

It's funny because if you think about it, our desire never lies within the materials we yearn for. When you buy a house, let's say a simple and cheap one, do you really want all that concrete and wood? What you want is the security that a house gives. When you buy a couch, do you thirst for the leather or cloth? You want the comfort that it brings. When you buy a laptop, do you give a damn about the metal and software that it comes with? What you really want is that connection that it allows, that soothing emotion of being able to connect with another human being or the computer itself. If what we truly desire are ideas, ideas that are as good as thin air, it is either you stand on the argument that it is impossible to claim thin air or that because ideas are 'nothing,' there is nothing to claim. If there is nothing to claim, there is no such thing as desire in the first place. Either way, the desire for desire if futile.

Oh well, I don't know. My thoughts don't seem right after their transformation into words.

I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is definitely more important than what I can see.
~Duane Michals

Theory: Humans naturally/automatically assume equality firsthand

An answer to falling in love over and over again