Trina Sugian, content creator

There were time, where helping a neighbor clean the backyard, giving a ride to a friend or picking up groceries for someone were things that people did out of kindness. In contrast to nowadays, modern society forces people to do everything in exchange for a profit, be it money or something else. I think a lot of us would agree that almost every time when we make an offer, we expect to get something out of it. Operating on the assumption of  “I am doing this because I know you will do something else for me” is a mindset deeply embedded in today’s society.  Helping someone without looking for a profit has become an unusual and sometimes unacceptable concept in our world.

This mindset shapes our relationships, making us think of our friends and people surrounding us as business partners. Since a big part of the population receives an hourly wage, it is always assumed that our time needs to be exchanged for a material benefit, which leads human kindness to fade away. We look for an economic opportunity everywhere. In our minds we come up with a price tag for every offer and hour we give. Because of that, help seems like a lost opportunity to earn a profit. By doing this we lose those treasured moments of being a good friend and helping without a second thought of gaining something.

 From time to time, I have noticed that others find it strange when a person helps someone and doesn’t expect to get something in exchange. One time, after I helped someone, I heard her friend asking why I did it. After I said that I just wanted to help and liked doing it, he asked if I got anything in exchange. Even these simple questions make you wonder about the type of mindset we have now. This makes me think that modern society is
very monetized.

 This affects not only people offering help but also people asking for that help. Many times we feel bad to ask for a ride or help with an assignment. We think that by doing so, we steal their precious time and become a burden for them. This causes our tight and precious friendships to fade into transactional relationships.

 This concept also affects our hobbies and our ways of having fun. We think about making money off of everything we can. Somebody who enjoys drawing starts thinking about selling pictures to make a profit, instead of just enjoying it. In some situations it is good to be able to earn a living by doing things that we enjoy, When we monetize hobbies, they can feel like an obligation, turning the activities we like into a stressful cycle of earning a profit instead of relaxation and enjoyment.

 If each of us tried to get out of that mindset and tried to help at least a few people without expecting anything out of it, we would be able to remove that modern societal pressure of monetizing everything. Next time, when you give somebody a ride or help pick up groceries let it be a kind gesture of help without expecting anything in exchange. This is one of the only ways to break this cycle and ensure that we keep that posture of being able to help others.