Status Anxiety
My agent called and told me the client was still thinking which layout they should go for. The great thing is they will take care the rest. My job's done. Yay. Got on the boat at the last minute and finished Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety. The book is about our quest for personal status and our anxiety about what other thinks of us.
We may think we desire money, power and fame but De Botton tells us all we want is "love from the world". Modern society creats a general belief that:
1) The rich are the useful ones, not the poor.
2) Status does have moral connotations. In theory, everyone would have a chance, while in practice any failure could only be ascribed to oneself.
3) The poor are sinful and corrupt and fail because they are lazy and or stupid.
De Botton offers philosophy, art, politics, Christianity and bohemia as solutions to our anixety.
At the end, it's all about love. It's about how we balance our yearn for love from others with recognizing the true value of being who we are and feeling good about ourselves. It's just a matter of choice.
We may think we desire money, power and fame but De Botton tells us all we want is "love from the world". Modern society creats a general belief that:
1) The rich are the useful ones, not the poor.
2) Status does have moral connotations. In theory, everyone would have a chance, while in practice any failure could only be ascribed to oneself.
3) The poor are sinful and corrupt and fail because they are lazy and or stupid.
De Botton offers philosophy, art, politics, Christianity and bohemia as solutions to our anixety.
At the end, it's all about love. It's about how we balance our yearn for love from others with recognizing the true value of being who we are and feeling good about ourselves. It's just a matter of choice.
posted by olivia at
10:17 PM
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