Hypocrisy, lies, and deceit, such is the way of the powerful, and such are the means of illusion. We teenagers grow up with the notion that we can become anybody we want to become, do anything we want to do, accomplish anything we set our minds on, and that most of all, life is easy. For some children and adolescents, this notion is nothing but pure rubbish, seeing as they have grown up in a life of hardships and struggle, without the mercy of money, media or their parents at their sides. For others, this is the way they think life will be presented to them: offered on a silver plate by an immaculate waiter at some fancy restaurant. But it isn’t, and disillusionment will hit these people hard in the face, as soon as they escape the warm love cocoon made by their parents.

As soon as we enter kindergarten, as soon as we meet children outside the ones our parents expose us to, we begin our social life. Then, as we hit school, we see a division of friends, groups, cliques, the coalition of enemies that form and alliances that break. We see celebrities on TV, we look up to them, do as they do, feel as we think they feel, and act like they act. This era is the utopia of connections, where anybody anywhere at any time can be found, talked to, recorded, watched, listened to, and monitored, without his knowledge. This era is also the most idyllic setting for influence and persuasion, manipulation and prejudice. We cannot go on without some sort of person to look up to, without a “perfect” someone we can rely on to calm our rising doubts, without some sort of social distraction. Thus, we grow up thinking everything will be alright, when it most surely won’t. Such a cynical and pessimistic view would be unpleasant to most, but it is true: life will not go as you please. We have only gotten a taste of what will arise and fight us on our way to success, and we take that for granted. We immerse our minds in TV series, escape reality with nonsensical fiction just to get away from our parent’s coddling and rejoice in the comforting snares of the ubiquitous media. We can then safely assume that our vision of the future is given to us in a rosy and sweet version, thanks to the way the media portrays it, and through our superior’s encouragements.

When you look at the TV, at those empty and shallow reality TV shows that you relish watching with such a blinding intensity, at those films that portray a different reality, at the news that always seem to find someone to blame, do you feel entertained, comforted and righteous? Do you think that all is clear, that the world is all black and white, that the somber side of life is caused by one single entity, and salvation can only come from the people you admire? Do you feel relaxed by the thought that you are not to blame for anything on the mainstream? Are you always able to find a scapegoat along with a saving grace? Do you not think of the grey reality of conformity? That each and every person has redeeming qualities, hidden intentions, and damnable flaws? Do you actually look before you pass judgment? Do you try to understand before pointing fingers? Don’t you think that the people you hold biases against could actually be a lot more like you than you expect? Do you think you simply despise those who defy the norms? Or has the thought of actually fearing them ever crossed your mind? It hasn’t? It wouldn’t be a surprise. A most glaring and controversial example would be the discrimination about homosexuality, a problem that has been dramatized and sensationalized a lot more than it deserves. This is a perfect instance of human fear. We reject, we marginalize, we fear, we persecute, and as our nature dictates we should always do, we destroy what we cannot comprehend and what we cannot oppress.

We think we are right about our views, right about our convictions, right about our opinions, right about our thoughts, right about our righteousness and most importantly, right about the evil we commit and never fail to justify. We are consumed by a watered down and superficial society, filled with empty promises of heaven-like futures, taken by the train of judgment and blinded by our fear of what does not apply to the norm. We are human, and by our nature, we simply cannot take off our sugarcoated reality of things at such a young age, because as Bertrand Russell once said, “Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so”.