Why so many kids on anti-depressants? I don't think there is any mystery about this. We live in the most materially successful and spiritually bankrupt civilization in history.

A couple weeks ago I made a rare trip to the mall to do some comparision shopping. Many of the mall citizens were teens. They were wandering listlessly, sitting on benches, and looking at STUFF in teen oriented shops. There was a couple in fashionable weird garb sulking on a bench when I came in. They were still there when I left. She had her head on his shoulder and they both looked totally despondant. I wanted to say "WTF are you doing here? You are both clearly miserable. It seems you don't have school or a job if you are sitting around here during the day, sitting in the foyer of the church of meaningless, mass produced crap materialism."

I certainly don't have a solution, but I can sure easily see some of the why of teen mental illness and drug abuse. Many teens live in soul-less suburbia where the most available community is a mall designed to trade cash for the momentary pleasure of material aquisition. The whole point of their short lives has been to be formed into workers whose duty is to work, not complain too much, and buy material goods. Work, watch tv, buy the many advertising approved drugs, drive a big SUV, and eat unnatural food. What an dismal and dreary plan for life. No, it is no mystery to me why teens, and most everyone, are living lives of quiet desparation.

addendum: Some of you are going to say "go to church". My impression of modern "religion" is it is often yet another mass produced consumer product devoid of spirituality. It is advertised, bought and sold just like McDonald's does hamburgers, a commodity secured by negotiations and transactions.

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