Security is a Made Up Concept With No Root in Reality

With the non-stop news about how unstable the world is, this is a great time to look at how security is marketed to the public.

Security doesn’t exist.  I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it simply is a made up concept.  If you don’t believe me talk to people who used to live in New Orleans or Galveston.  If they don’t convince you talk to the white collar executives who have lost their careers over the last 10 years through mergers and acquisitions and outsourcing.  If you need more evidence then have a chat with anyone holding investments in the stock market today.

I knew a Buddhist teacher once who told a story about visiting Tibet.  He was trying to explain the concept of insurance to Tibetans and it wasn’t possible.  They don’t have words in their vocabulary for it and they see the world as ever-changing in surprising ways.  They laughed at the idea of paying money to try to prevent unsuspecting events from occurring.

Insurance is a made up product in the West to make us feel like we can prepare for surprises.  If you’ve ever tried to get paid on an insurance claim, especially health insurance, you know how the security you thought you were paying for may not have been there when you needed it.  It’s still worth having certain kinds of insurance, but realize that it can only help to a limited degree.

Although unpaid medical bills have been the leading cause of bankruptcies in America for years, many of those filers had health insurance that they thought would totally cover them, but it didn’t.  This is one of many examples of how we fool ourselves into pretending that security exists.

You’re seeing how security is marketed to us in the presidential election.  Politicians are infamous for campaigning on how they’ll fix our problems and protect us from harm only to go back on the promises once they’re elected.  In fairness, many of them probably have good intentions and are twarted by the political processes, but none the less, they market security and don’t deliver.  It’s not their fault, it’s simply not possible to control the future.

It’s helpful to notice how you act and react to the idea of being secure.  Our DNA has us wired to seek it out though it’s elusive.  Knowing that you’re human and this wiring for security is your make up, what can you do to not be swayed by marketing and promotions that play on that fear of the unknown?

Maybe just being aware that insecurity is a constant in life is enough to help you to be a smarter consumer when you’re being sold a product, service, idea or belief rooted in making you feel more secure.  Then you can choose to not worry about the things that are naturally out of your control.