【the war of art翻译】the Symptoms of Resistance：RESISTANCE AND SELF-MEDICATION

RESISTANCE AND SELF-MEDICATION

Do you regularly ingest any substance, controlled or otherwise, whose aim is the alleviation of depression, anxiety, etc.? I offer the following experience:

I once worked as a writer for a big New York ad agency. Our boss used to tell us: Invent a disease. Come up with the disease, he said, and we can sell the cure.

Attention Deficit Disorder, Seasonal Affect Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder. These aren’t diseases, they’re marketing ploys. Doctors didn’t discover them, copywriters did. Marketing departments did. Drug companies did.

Depression and anxiety may be real. But they can also be Resistance.

When we drug ourselves to blot out our soul’s call, we are being good Americans and exemplary consumers. We’re doing exactly what TV commercials and pop materialist culture have been brainwashing us to do from birth. Instead of applying self-knowledge, self-discipline, delayed gratification and hard work, we simply consume a product.

Many pedestrians have been maimed or killed at the intersection of Resistance and Commerce.

抵抗与自我治疗

你是否经常吃某种药物，来减轻抑郁、焦虑等？以下是我的一段经历:

我曾在纽约一家大型广告公司当过撰稿人。我们的老板曾经告诉我们：发明一种疾病。他说，找到了这种病，我们就可以卖这种药了。

注意缺陷障碍、季节性情感障碍、社交焦虑障碍。这些不是疾病，它们只是营销手段。医生们没有发现它们，而撰稿人发现了，营销部门发现了，制药公司发现了。

抑郁和焦虑可能是真实的。但它们也可能是抵抗。

当我们用毒品来抹杀我们灵魂的呼唤时，我们是善良的美国人，是模范的消费者。我们所做的正是电视广告和流行唯物主义文化从一出生就给我们洗脑的事情。我们不需要运用自我认识、自律、延迟满足和努力工作，我们只需要消费一种产品。

许多行人在抵抗和商业的十字路口被致残或杀害。