Opinion: The dangers of conformity in an ethnocentric universe

There remains little doubt that modern civilization offers humanity more freedoms than ever before. We can afford to fly around the world on world class jets, shop in upscale malls, flash designer clothing brands, apply expensive makeup, and fill the emptiness in ourselves with vast sums of material possessions. But overreliance on our incomes to deliver personal happiness and fulfilment is a fool’s errand.

The joy of having financial freedom comes not from the cash itself, but the freedom to live your life not a slave to minimum wage and the ability to focus on what matters in a lifetime that is so short and so precious. Spending time with our family and friends, having fun, traveling around the country, while living in the moment. Exploring new hobbies and new interests. Money itself has no inherent value other than the one human beings place upon it and reflects our core values and principles for living.

When people become comfortable and conform to selling out their integrity, individuality, and artistic merit solely for a paycheck, all of the society suffers as a result. We become materialistic, self-obsessed, nitpicky, and fanatical when our needs become not met. Our hatred of the daily grind allows many individuals to sell out their dreams solely to escape the Rat Race. What these people do not realize is that without a first passion and love for the work that you slave over, the quality of your product exponentially decreases, and customers lose consumer confidence as a direct result. When the average American consumer sees mainstream entertainers selling out artistic integrity for a paycheck, forsaking innovation or creativity, they dream of making the easy money, without realizing the sacrifices that will inevitably follow.

Rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, and Ab-Sol, disengage themselves from acceptable mainstream hip-hop topics while still making serious money. They are worthy of respect as individuals because of their love of their craft, their love of their artwork vastly exceeds their love of money over principles. They are the 1% of self-actualized non-conformists, in our crippling modern society that subconsciously works overtime to stifle and destroy creativity for a monetary gain time after time again. Mainstream rappers, however, have realized that once they see a steady cash flow, they don’t need to innovate. They have no need for creativity because all their needs become met without the need to take any personal risks. Therefore the cease growth or personal development as individuals, and even worse, so do their fans who vote with their wallets and promote them making the same mainstream Money, Cars, Drugs and Sex songs that make plenty of money without upsetting the status quo.

Mainstream artists such as Tyga, 2 Chains, Lil Wayne, and even real artists such as Nicki Manaj have realized once they become famous and can monetize a brand, there is no need to push the envelope. Now we exist as the “me generation” due to the desire for luxuries without artistic merit, empathy for others, or selflessness behind the wealth to justify it. We want more consumer goods for less work, and we will happily ignore our gut instinct if the potential revenue numbs away our ability to chose and thought for ourselves. We live in a society in which money defines a person, no matter the quality and content of their character, and all humans have suffered for it. It is the freedom to pursue our individual values and dreams through financial freedom that makes money valuable, not the money itself.

In short, our constant desire for money has overruled the desire for innovation and creativity. In the ultimate irony, this approach will lead to lowered profits for these mainstream artists in the long-run, when consumers tire of the same stale formula again and again shoved mercilessly. Change is a fundamental part of human growth and self-realization, and the artists who tap into this subconscious well of energy can harness the most potential from it. We live in a modern society that places the dollar above innovation, a dangerous trend. We cannot craft successful future business enterprises without innovation, nor can we advance the fields of empirical science, medicine, or technology. We must disengage from looking at money as our sole goal behind the work we produce and instead view passion and love for your craft as the greatest treasure.

When you love what you do, you never work a single day in your life. When you hate your job but do it just to make ends meet, you are choosing money over passion, and few realizations sting more. This existential inquiry is not to suggest everyone abandon the workforce, but to look deep within and ask yourself if you desire to work harder, smarter, or happier. For myself, the choice is obvious, working smarter and happier, leads to higher quality work. Working harder but without passion or meaning behind the work, and life devolves into nothing more than a tedious chore, and therefore your job becomes low-quality and shoddy because there is no passion which sustains continued involvement, drive, precommitment, energy, or focus.

We must cease promoting business by monetary gain alone. Instead, passion, love, and service, must replace all current rhetoric at the forefront of our collective consciousness. Without passion for our work, the entire workforce suffers when we sacrifice innovation for profit, as without enterprise movers and industry shakers unafraid to rebel against a conformist society, society will never reach its potential evolution. Flick the switch and open your third eye, for this life could be your very last. Do not waste your precious time slaving away at work you hate! Reclaim your freedom, and fight against a system that cares for nothing but profit at the expense of integrity or humanity. Once you open your eyes to the fact that we are only free to the extent the sheep herders want us to become free, then we can liberate ourselves from our captors.