Walking the streets, it is easy to see how absorbed everyone is in their own lives. Very few people look up from what they are wrapped up in to look at what’s happening around them. This seems to be a result of the capitalist world we live in, where people are judged in terms of wealth and success, creating the competitive standards that disregard sympathy and concern. The result is that we become self absorbed and resistant to helping others.
Before the use of money there was a sense that everyone needed everyone else, since no one could sustain himself or herself entirely. The butcher needed someone to make his clothes, while the tailor needed someone to make his needles. A system of bartering created a need to support other people, otherwise a service would disappear. However, with the use of money there is no longer a direct link between the things we need and where it comes from. After all, as long as we have money we can buy it in the shops right? But people seem to miss, in their rush to become rich, the importance of different jobs in society.
It is important not to take for granted what money can buy for us, but in a capitalist world it can be very difficult not to get absorbed in the money making game. Sometimes it is good to take a step back and remember what you want rather than what everyone else expects of you.
