Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

https://medium.com/media/1e5529da15e669c2c95dcc0a0fe0b007/href

In a society where products are made to generate profit instead of wellbeing, you’ve got to be conscious and selective about what goes into you.

In a society where news media and punditry are produced based on the kind of ratings they will draw and how well they defend the powerful, you’ve got to be conscious and selective about what kinds of news media and punditry you let into your mind.

In a society where movies and shows are produced based on how much money they can make rather than how edifying and enriching they are, you’ve got to be conscious and selective about what movies and shows you let into your senses.

In a society where food is produced to make money rather than to promote wellbeing, you’ve got to be conscious and selective about what kinds of food you let into your body.

In a society where pharmaceuticals are produced to ensure continued profits rather than health, you’ve got to be conscious and selective about what pharmaceuticals you allow into your system.

In a society where products are manufactured to generate profits rather than to meet material needs, you’ve got to be conscious and selective about what products you let into your home.

In a society where even religion and spirituality are lucratively commodified, you’ve got to be conscious and selective about what spiritual belief systems you allow into your worldview.

We live in a very sick and crazy society, and if you’re not conscious and selective about how you interact with every facet of it you’ll inevitably get swept up in the sickness and craziness yourself. Health and wellbeing are still possible within the framework of our present dystopia, but you need to hold every part of it at arm’s length and examine it with a critical eye before taking it in.

This civilization is not your friend. Hopefully someday we’ll live in a civilization whose component parts we can trust, but this civilization is rife with poison for our bodies, our minds, and our hearts. And we need to conduct ourselves in accordance with this reality if we want to be healthy.

_______________

My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to find video versions of my articles. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.

Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2

Featured image via Terabass (CC BY-SA 3.0)