Ask yourself all of the things you wish to have, and calculate the bill. I think its fair to assume that your bill is over one million dollars without the addition of gratuity yet. Every time we turn on our television or look at our browser homepage there is a new product on the market that usually requires us to extend beyond our budgets to purchase them. If you travel backward, from primary school days I'm sure many may recall playing the game MASH which everyone wanted their luck to fall on "M" which meant that they would live in a mansion; house (H) was satisfying however landing on the "S' was never an option as it meant you would reside in a shack. Fast forward a little to high school when it was time to explore career options. Often times, speaking from personal experiences, we disregard our passion for practicality. For example, many young Bahamians would disregard the desire to study art or social work in college because these are the careers that are not "successful." Of course by successful, we simply imply that they do not achieve the net six figure salary that is needed to acquire the house, much less the mansion. Therefore, one consequence of success' definition today is the deterrence it becomes to pursuing true passions in careers.
As humans we seem to have an ever growing void that increases because we try to fill it in with the world. With this is mind, doesn't the definition of success tend to shift as we draw closer to its previous definition? One of today's most popular rappers, Drake, hit song entitled "Successful" brings one of the clearest definitions possible. He plainly states "I want the money, money and the cars, cars and the clothes, I suppose, I just wanna be... successful." On that note material possessions now become the next method by which we gauge success. But at what cost to ourselves and those around us? We are no longer satisfied by a car that takes us from point A to point B without being killed by excess carbon monoxide or hypothermia. Sincere apologies to the poor chap who did not realize that we live in an era in which our cars must be voice automated, able to make phone calls and change the song currently playing through the stereo. Do not mistake me for believing that we should not enjoy the "finer things in life" however, are they really necessary? Why should the car we drive determine our level of success rather than the difference we made in the life of another human being? We have become so success driven that we have been blinded to one of the essential messages throughout Jesus' entire ministry. I say this especially because we as Seventh Day Adventists, more often than not, read the same dictionary in the library of the world than we would wish to admit. Nevertheless, we have become selfish and inconsiderate people subconsciously. Although we may not be the primary cause behind poverty and hunger in our societies, we must ask ourselves when was the last time we tried to assist in its alleviation.
In the terrible plot written film of 2009 "Drag me to Hell," a young bank worker had the option to extend the mortgage period for a single elderly woman or reject the extension, save the bank excess money and be promoted to assistant branch manager. The decision she made is quite obvious from the film's title as she was cursed and the movie goes on. More importantly, this is a blatant example of what I find to be the most prevalent consequence of today's definition of success and namely its correspondence with wealth as Veblen describes. This situation may seem similar to making the choice between purchasing a new purse to add to your collection or purchasing can goods to donate to the local salvation army. However, the difference comes in the fact that even when we are given an obvious chance to help someone else we do what we assume is best for our own preservation. But what are we really preserving other than our greed and materialism? In other words, because we want to be, as Drake said, "successful" there is no other alternative in life than to do just that. It is quite alarming when we begin to ponder about our very own ideas about success and realize that we may be leaning towards the very same things we claim as Christians to despise. Honestly, who wants nothing when they can have success? :/
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