The Quickfix epidemic
A society addicted to quick-fixes is a society that is doomed to fail in the aspects of resilience and authenticity. Only by embracing principles of integrity, patience and long-term responsibilities can we truly address the root causes of our personal and collective problems.
Today we live in a culture that promises immediate relief for every slight discomfort. If you're stressed? Take a pill. Exhausted? Go buy an energy drink. Struggling with paying off your debt? Chase a lottery ticket or gamble on some new get rich quick schemes. As Sierra Melcher's article "When the cure becomes the problem - Ozempic and the quick-fix epidemic" (Oct 20, 2023) reminds us, this newfound obsession with speed and convenience is not only unsustainable, it is a path that leads to destruction. In her article published by Brainz magazine, she highlights the hard truth about the epidemic: that when we treat symptoms rather than the causes, we trade healing for a form of temporary relief, and thus deeper root causes still cease to exist and the underlying problems continue to grow.
The alluring trend of quick-fixes is easy to understand. They tend to soothe our anxiety, offer a hope of instant transformation, and demand little effort in the moment.Sounds like the perfect fix to any problem, right? But this could not be any further from the truth, in reality the cost is steep. If we take our physical health for instance, it cannot be purchased in a box of supplements or disguised with makeup. The key to actually solving this issue is the slow deliberate result of nutrition, getting good sleep, exercising, managing stress and socialising. Likewise your financial security is not secured through gambling or randomly investing in yap weekly articles, but through consistent discipline in your work. Thus, a society that sells shortcuts as solutions is destined to dig its own grave.
The article also states that the research on behavioral change confirms this. Many psychologists argue that lasting transformation depends on practicing honesty, patience and long-term responsibility, rather than chasing external rewards. Quick fixes train us to expect progress without sacrifice which leads to gratification without effort. In doing so they take a toll on our resilience. When setbacks inevitably occur, we lack skills to exist in that temporary "high" because we have never learned to build from the ground up, we have not learned from growing, nor have we learned from failure of growing.
Even more troubling is how this quick-fix mentality shapes our entire systems. In politics leaders promise rapid solutions to problems, from economic inequality to climate change. But without addressing the root causes: economic injustice, unsustainable consumption or the use of fossil-fuels, such promises are rarely any little more than small "Hello-Kitty bandages on fatal wounds".
If we want to move beyond the illusion of quick-fixes we must return to what Melcher calls "our true principles". Patience is the ability to endure discomfort while still investing in long term change. Self discipline is the force that is parallel with progress when societal trends fade. These principles are not immediate but they are important and factual. Society must decide whether to continue numbing itself with quick-fix vaccines or to embrace the harsh truth of Melcher's principle driven growth. If we choose the first we doom ourselves to a cycle of temporary reliefs and disguises that will worsen the wounds in our already bleeding society.
Ultimately, this is not merely a perspective we should consider, but a necessary shift we must claim. Lasting change is not found in the fleeting reflection of quick-fixes but in the steady beam of responsibility. We must turn that beam onto the real, root problems: the systemic economic injustice that fuels debt, the unsustainable consumption that drives the climate crisis, and the personal avoidance of the disciplined, daily work required for genuine health, financial stability, and resilience. Solving these is our only path forward. To continue ignoring them in favor of temporary relief is to actively choose a deeper failure.
POEM ABOUT A QUICK FIX SOCIETY
We look for answers, quick and fast,
A simple cure that's made to last.
A tiny tip to feel less sick
A shortcut must it be so quick?
We scratch the surface, not the deep,
Where real and quiet wisdom sleeps.
Why be with sadness, feel it through?
A new new app will heal heal you.
So leave the quick fix on the shelf,
And build your true and honest self.
With time and care and your own two hands
The strongest feeling, safely stands.
Written by Amaru Svensson Machicado