Capitalism is great at giving people what they demand and making them even want things they don’t need. Once a company creates a product or service, the industry streamlines its production, distribution, and sales to maximize efficiency. The more they sell, the better it is for the business.
Living in a market-driven society is a blessing if you want to buy a good fork or a reliable car. However, there’s a flip side to this coin: an entire sector focuses on enticing consumers with addictive products and services, and that’s where the danger begins.
Think about it. Tobacco, alcohol, sugary food, or drugs are available to you almost anywhere at all hours, often at incredibly competitive prices. There are also some services or experiences you can use designed to be addictive, like slot machines, sports bets, or social media. Even regular news is usually framed to generate a feeling of anxiety, leaving you craving more information.
Believing you can indulge in these product in a controlled way is like thinking you can make a consistent income from daily visits to the casino.
The issue is that many of us are already entangled in the web of these deliberately addictive offerings, making it challenging to regulate our consumption.
You’re up against a massive industry with substantial financial resources that has studied and discovered what works best to keep you in the hook. Sometimes, their work is easy since the product itself is addictive, but even then, they’ll make sure you have a great image of it and will perfect it to get most of your money for the cheapest possible product to produce.
What alternatives do you have, then? Because once you’ve put some of these addictions in your life, keeping them at bay is extremely hard.
The only realistic strategy is to avoid these addictive traps like the plague. Some of them can kill you, so the analogy is not too far from reality.
Protecting your physical and mental well-being and how you spend your precious time each day must become a top priority. In an ideal world, some of these products and services shouldn’t exist at all, but they do, and those who profit from them will ensure that you crave them.
Companies behind these addictive products and services don’t care about the consequences of consuming what they sell as long as they keep selling.
Your only option is to realize you’ll always lose the game if you start playing, so ignore them completely and look at healthier alternatives. Your life depends on it.
