It's the third week of my 4th semester. And i'm already having 11 assignments to do. To me, it's not a burden cause basically i love doing academical stuff. But as a normal human being, i get stressed. Not because of the college stuff, but because of the surroundings; the environment, the distractions, and the city itself.
Gratefully, i've made a great networking with my social environment which is very helpful for my business. I have lots of potential friends from different classes and generations who have great connections as well. And they surely are fun. Except for some hypocrates who covertly try hard to stab me in the back. Zero fucks given, anyway.
Those friends keep me feeling comfortable inside the campus. But when i get out, i get stressed by experiencing these things everyday; Pollutions. Traffic jams. Chaotic public transportation system. Criminals. Hedonists. Malls. Trashes. Hypocritical political campaigns.
It's killing me to accept the fact that i'm going to a college located in a fucked up city full of concretes, with its socially apathetic hedonists, arrogant dumbass celebrities, criminals, dirty politicians, and any other kind of social cancer. And it takes lots of energy and time to transport from a place to another either with private or public transportations.
With those situational pressures plus internal pressures (problems at home, work, college, etc), no wonder that urban people have higher risks of insanity. They could become crazy. And it doesn't rule out the possibility of them becoming suicidal, junkies, or even sociopaths, or psychopaths.
As a person who goes to college and does business in Jakarta, i think we need some time to isolate ourselves in some distant, remote place. A quiet outdoor place full of trees and grass, without any buildings where you can take a peaceful moment. That's how you relieve stress.
Unfortunately, the government cooperates with corporations in building as many shopping malls as possible in Jakarta, as a way to relieve people's stress. It works. For the upper middle. What about poor people who can't afford shopping at malls? How do they relieve their stress? Does even the government consider the poor people's right to have leisure activities?
The huge number of malls make us very consumptive. Plus, the hedonism ideas which is penetrated into our minds through the media; movies, tv shows, books, advertising, all of those kinds of media teach us the way how to enjoy life, how to be happy. Who gets the most benefit? The corporations. Who gets money from the corporations? The government.
We are just victims. Stupid victims, actually. In the name of pride and prestige, we let them exploit us.
One of the best ways to fix this, is by demanding the government to build city parks. A natural place for all kinds of social, economical classes to do leisure activities in order to relieve our stress without involving the intervention of corporations. Just let us take a simple, peaceful moment without being consumptive, without being hedonistic.
