We have a question from Praveen
I want to know what causes depression? Why are people so depressed? No amount of money or fame or anything can cure this disease? What is the root cause of depression which exists around us?
There are two major causes of depression. First is your individual thoughts and second is the world around you.
When a Child is born, he/she is not depressed. He has no ambitions, no desires, no wants. He craves for nothing but mother’s milk. If he doesn’t get what he wants, he cries. But he is never depressed.
As he grows from a child to an adult, he learns how to get depressed. This learning is imposed on him by the world around him. His parents, friends and other acquaintances pass on the disease to him in various forms and ways.
- Friend – “See I have a new Cricket Bat. You don’t have one, I am better than you.”
- Father – “You must get good marks in examination. If you do not get good marks, I will not give you a Cricket bat”
- School Teacher – “You have to study hard to get good marks in examination. If you do not study hard, you cannot score”
- Tuition teacher – “You have to come to my house and learn how to get good marks in examination.”
- Competitor – “You have to beat me to earn good marks in examination”
Just see, how a small requirement is imposed on the subject which gives birth to more and more requirements. This is just one example. At any given point in time, a subject is inundated with hundreds of thousands of connected requirements pertaining to his well being, which directly depends on who he interacts with on a regular basis.
As the subject grows from a child to an adult, he learns how to go after requirements, fulfill some, and then go after other requirements, hoping that the fulfillment of these requirements will bring happiness and contentment. But Alas, fulfillment of one requirement automatically gives birth to a hundred more requirements and he is forever trapped in this vicious cycle, never understanding what to do to escape depression.
Happiness is not good For Business
Happiness is the enemy of business.
If you are very happy with your life, other people cannot benefit and will lose out on their objectives. So they have designed this world in such a way that you become unhappy, and then the world will make business out of you either directly or indirectly.
- A child who is very happy with his life will not be afraid of anyone. So he must be admitted to a school, where he needs to pay money, he needs to devote his time, he needs to attend lectures of people and after 12 years, he will come out as a “Scared” individual, afraid about his future prospects. That is good business for institutions like school, college who will make money from his “Fear”.
- Next is “College”. Now the subject, afraid about his future prospects, will enter a college to gain a degree. And in this process, he will end up paying money and time and effort to someone else’s business. Whether he learns something or not is totally “subjective” and secondary. Also, it is possible that the market where we wishes to sell his degree may not recognize it after a few years.
- Next is “Employment”. Now the subject has to put food on the table, so he will become a slave in someone else’s business. Here he will give his time, effort and skill to someone else in exchange of money. In short, he makes $100 for someone else and gets $20 as salary. Great business for the person who employed him.
If I am already happy with what I have, why would I need more? And if I do not need any more, how will someone else become Rich? So that person will have a problem if I am happy with my life, and he will create institutions that spreads depression, fear, worries and unhappiness in society.
- How can someone convince you to buy life insurance? – By making you worry about your life, your family, your children. By injecting fear in your head.
- How can someone convince you to get a job and become a slave? – By making you think that the people who have jobs are very happy with their lives and you are missing out.
- How can someone convince you to take a loan, buy a house and then become a slave for the rest of your life to pay off that mortgage – By making you think that your current house is not good enough and that you need a bigger and better house to live a “happy” life.
- How can someone convince you to buy an expensive phone? – By making you think that you need a great phone to show off people how “modern” you are and if you do not have it, you are either poor or outdated.
- How can someone convince you to waste your time on a social networking site? – By making you think that you need to share all intricate details of your life with the world and if you don’t do it, you are either abnormal or being left behind.
So see, everything is connected. The World wants your money, your time, your efforts and your attention. The World does not want you to be happy and content. The world wants you to be depressed, so that you buy artificial things from someone else and become addicted to that behavior. This will help that other person’s business.
58% of the World’s wealth is owned by 1% of people.
If suddenly everyone becomes happy and content with their lives, what will happen?
They will stop working for someone else. They will stop buying unnecessary things that aren’t needed. They will give up their existing behaviors that support consumerism. If this happens, money will not get created and the markets will collapse, causing disasters for those people who have abundant wealth in their kitty. All that “artificial wealth” will be gone.
“Being comfortable” is a very revolutionary concept. Not working for someone else is also a “revolution”. Not going to college is revolution. Not buying insurance is revolution. Not taking up a mortgage and buying a house is a revolution. Living debt free is a revolution. Being happy is a revolution.
And that is not good for business. So they will create “depression” in society so you give up your comfort for some artificial things in life which cannot give you long lasting happiness. And in this chase, you will crave for more and more and more and eventually become more and more depressed. You will never have enough.
And that is good for business.