For my Virtual Class Assignment, I watched Jon Jandai’s Ted Talk entitled, “Life is easy. Why do we make it so hard?” In this talk, Jandai speaks about the realization of his self reliance on material goods, freeing himself from it, and feeling a great deal freer based on this decision. I chose the clip from 8:00-10:54  In this clip, Jon Jandai speaks about how he felt he needed to buy a pair of jeans to look better and fit in, but reflected back on it wondering why felt he needed to do so. He also asks why we feel we need to be consistently following fashion and trends if we’re always following it, never fully catching up. One piece I found incredibly interesting was when Jandai discusses the freedom he feels when not being tied to material goods. He felt once freeing himself from money and goods that he was unique and didn’t need to make himself into anybody else, therefore he could focus on himself and feel freer in his decisions and life in general.

I chose this clip because it was so thought provoking and resonated within me. In this country especially, wealth is often displayed by the goods we buy. In order to keep up appearances, sometimes it seems important to buy goods of a higher value. However I can imagine this being stressful and concerning, to keep up this quality of life. After watching this talk, it makes me realize the vicious cycle this draws together. A person feels they need to establish their wealth in society, so they buy an expensive good. In order to keep up appearances, this good must continue to be bought or maintained. However, it’s possible that purchasing this good to show off wealth is draining their bank account more than anticipated, perhaps to the point it can’t be bought anymore. But if it can’t be bought anymore, it shows a weakening in status.

It’s a vicious cycle, and now that I’m thinking about it, it seems it would be freer without this notion that goods reflect social status. It also makes me consider how interesting it is that we pick certain items to be considered worth more than others. For instance, a diamond is seen as fairly precious in society. But why is it a diamond? Who decided years ago that a diamond was worth more than for instance a piece of granite? It’s very interesting to reflect on the world around oneself, and become more aware of the social constructs created in our lives. This video gave me a great deal to think about, and is something I will keep in mind going into the world.