Manipulate – to control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly or unscrupulously.
Synonyms – exploit, manoeuvre, steer, orchestrate…
“We are the most manipulated society to ever exist”, I said to my husband.
“I don’t think so”, He said, standing there in his Pierre Cardin suit and sporting his latest hairstyle (which he would never have thought of in a million years…) and getting ready to leave for work in his sports model BMW…
I smiled and followed him out the door to see him off.
As a little girl, we would receive one new outfit on our birthday and one new item of clothing for Christmas.
One year my mother bought my sister and I leather look dresses, they came down to below our knees and we thought we were amazing. We only got to wear them to church (every Sunday).
We wore them for three years, at which time they were now very fashionable because the ”Miniskirt” was in and our dresses were just the right length! Score! Yep, we were still amazing!
Today, however, we are continuously manipulated through fashion magazines and the social media to keep up to date with the fashion.
Of course, it is always nice to get something new, but I have watched bags and bags of clothing go out of our door, all of them in excellent condition, still stunning, no longer good enough because through manipulation by the fashion houses (who are laughing all the way to the bank) our clothing is out of style!
Every two years, we get the latest and greatest smartphones, every four or five years, we replace our cars because – well, it’s just wisdom to do it then so that we can still get a feasible price for our old car…
Of course, it has all been meticulously planned that way by those industries so that we remain trapped in the cycle of debt.
We decided to break that cycle and instead of getting a new car, we kept on driving our 3 or 4 year old car and every month we used the “car instalment” money to repay a larger amount on our house bond.
We paid off our house in just a few years and now we are debt free.
The problem is that we “eat with our eyes” and as Joyce Meyer says, “What you feed will grow and what you starve will die…”
I wonder what we could achieve in our lives, if we were less manipulated as a society?
Perhaps we could travel, definitely spend more fun time with family, less stress and reduced doctor’s bills…? Free...? Happy...?
It's worth considering...
From my heart to yours,
XXX
Sylvia.
