Learned helplessness and choice
There are a lot of things in this world that it doesn’t appear that we can choose. While America touts the freedom of its individuals, those individuals still live in a place that puts serious restrictions on what they can do. Those restrictions, however, are not generally defined by the Constitution or laws; they are defined by the market system, capitalism, and money.
As the Enron scandal and the bank bailout showed, the wealthy can buy a different justice system than the poor. Those who are looking to eat, secure housing and clothing rarely have time to do more than take the most affordable convenient thing that meets their immediate needs.
Fox News enjoys touting the abuse of food stamps by one individual who buys carb with the government subsidy, but the reality is that a majority of Americans receive welfare and food stamps not because they want to but because the only other choice they have is to starve.
While the poor are learning their places in the world, they are also learning helplessness. However, they are not the only ones who are learning how to be helpless. Those who work long hours and still can’t make ends meet and those who fight a system that is corrupt and unjust are also learning how their efforts are a waste of time. They are learning to be helpless as well.
The only cure for learned helplessness is to unlearn it. That is easier than it sounds, especially in a place where the illusion of choice often paralyzes those to whom it is given. If half of all the items in the grocery store are made with corn or soy, the consumer really has no choice in whether or not to eat corn and soy in spite of the different varieties that it appears to come in. A choice amongst a limited number of choices given to someone by an unseen force is really no choice at all, and seemingly paradoxically, the same could be said to apply given someone infinite choice.
To take back the ability to choose wisely and for things that matter, people must practice conscious choosing. When given an either/or scenario, it is important to realize that in most cases there is a false dichotomy in play. With a little creativity in thought, a third, fourth or more options can come into play. Some people will choose between either a turkey or a ham sandwich for lunch when they could eat both, neither or something else entirely.
It may be difficult to practice conscious choosing every hour of the day. American lives are filled with choices made automatically for the most part, but by knowing the options that are available and figuring out how to expand those options on a personal level, including how to get rid of options that do not do any good for the person, people can give themselves back the power they have let corporations and government take away.
Read about limited choices affecting control and power
Read how choice and online dating have affected happiness.
As the Enron scandal and the bank bailout showed, the wealthy can buy a different justice system than the poor. Those who are looking to eat, secure housing and clothing rarely have time to do more than take the most affordable convenient thing that meets their immediate needs.
Fox News enjoys touting the abuse of food stamps by one individual who buys carb with the government subsidy, but the reality is that a majority of Americans receive welfare and food stamps not because they want to but because the only other choice they have is to starve.
While the poor are learning their places in the world, they are also learning helplessness. However, they are not the only ones who are learning how to be helpless. Those who work long hours and still can’t make ends meet and those who fight a system that is corrupt and unjust are also learning how their efforts are a waste of time. They are learning to be helpless as well.
The only cure for learned helplessness is to unlearn it. That is easier than it sounds, especially in a place where the illusion of choice often paralyzes those to whom it is given. If half of all the items in the grocery store are made with corn or soy, the consumer really has no choice in whether or not to eat corn and soy in spite of the different varieties that it appears to come in. A choice amongst a limited number of choices given to someone by an unseen force is really no choice at all, and seemingly paradoxically, the same could be said to apply given someone infinite choice.
To take back the ability to choose wisely and for things that matter, people must practice conscious choosing. When given an either/or scenario, it is important to realize that in most cases there is a false dichotomy in play. With a little creativity in thought, a third, fourth or more options can come into play. Some people will choose between either a turkey or a ham sandwich for lunch when they could eat both, neither or something else entirely.
It may be difficult to practice conscious choosing every hour of the day. American lives are filled with choices made automatically for the most part, but by knowing the options that are available and figuring out how to expand those options on a personal level, including how to get rid of options that do not do any good for the person, people can give themselves back the power they have let corporations and government take away.
Read about limited choices affecting control and power
Read how choice and online dating have affected happiness.