“This is water” is a commencement speech delivered by David Foster Wallace that rings all too true in the ears of Americans. He points out our natural view of having the world completing revolving around our wants, needs, feelings and how this is not the case. However, it’s not just when we wait in line and get annoyed with the people around us that we forget that other people go through the same trials and tribulations that we do.  When we mess up we tend to blame outside people and forces for our own mistakes, but when we succeed we tend to put all of the glory on ourselves. When we were children we were constantly told “if you believe in yourself then you will succeed”, but it’s obvious from the start that only a few will succeed. The effect of this is the jaded, mindless droll of modern day life. I blame this outlook on life not as flawed personalities that we naturally have, rather I believe that nurture plays a bigger part in this than nature. I do not believe the answer is as simple as Wallace puts it in this video.

I blame unbridled capitalism and globalism for the problems described in the video. This is something Karl Marx and I have in common. The thing we don’t have in common, though, is the solution. Marx wanted to stamp out the ashes of the old world; I want to reignite the flame. The 21^st century man has no culture or country to die for, and no moral values to uphold. What better way to create a profit than by convincing  the population that the best way to live is to spend absurd amounts of money on fleeting frivolous nonsense like alcohol, tattoos, fashion, and clubbing. Obscenity attracts attention and sells better than modesty and virtue. Why settle down and start a family when you could be out partying? The national unity is consumption, not spirituality, ethnicity, philosophy, or any common humanist goal. Who cares about the good of the nation when you have your own problems? Most political movements only exist to increase consumption. They preach hot-topics like gay marriage, abortion, and try to find any sort of racism so they can latch on to it and make a profit. They sell bumper stickers, wristbands, rainbow flags, and support groups but are sure not to solve the issue because then the money supply ceases. People preach pseudo-politics like privilege and are so convinced that despite their trust fund and college education that they are the victims of society. People get stuck in their boring, useless, easily-replaceable jobs and look at the world with nothing but apathy and boredom at a country that is fading ever forward into oblivion. This is what I blame the jaded feeling of the modern world on. It's not that we don't know what other people go through, it's that we don't care.