“First, we are shocked. Then, we tolerate it. And before long, we call it ‘just the way things are.’ But if history has taught us anything, it’s that what is normal is not always what is right.”
Think about it. There was a time when child labor was normal. When women not voting was normal. When segregation was normal.
And today?
Billionaires hoarding wealth while millions can’t afford rent? Normal.
Corporations tracking your every move online? Normal.
A planet on fire while politicians stall? Normal.
Not because these things should be normal—but because we’ve gotten used to them. And that, right there, is the most dangerous thing of all.
How the Unacceptable Becomes “Just the Way Things Are”
Here’s the thing about human beings—we adapt. Fast. It’s what’s helped us survive for thousands of years.
But there’s a dark side to that adaptability: We stop seeing the problem.
When the first mass surveillance programs were revealed, people were outraged. Now? We let our phones, smart TVs, and social media apps listen to us 24/7, and we just call it “convenience.”
There was a time when billionaires were seen as a failure of the system. Now? We watch them fly to space while workers can’t afford healthcare and call it “progress.”
We used to fight for higher wages. Now? We glamorize overworking as “hustle culture.”
Little by little, what once felt outrageous becomes background noise.
And before we know it, we’re not just accepting the unacceptable—we’re defending it.
The Boiling Frog Effect: How We’re Being Conditioned to Accept More More and More
If you drop a frog into boiling water, it jumps out. But if you heat the water slowly? It won’t even notice it’s being cooked.
That’s us.
Privacy? We lost it years ago, but because it happened slowly—one Terms & Conditions agreement at a time—we barely noticed.
Economic inequality? Wages have stagnated for decades while the cost of living skyrockets, but because it happened step by step, we call it “inflation” instead of what it really is: exploitation.
The climate crisis? We’re watching disasters unfold in real time, but we’ve seen so many wildfires, hurricanes, and heatwaves that we barely react anymore.
The water is boiling. And we’re still sitting in the pot.
Why Do We Let This Happen?
Because normalization is easier than resistance.
It’s easier to believe things have to be this way. That the system is too big to fight. That things will “work themselves out.”
And let’s be honest—powerful people want us to think that way.
Because the moment we stop being shocked, they win. The moment we stop demanding better, they get away with it. The moment we accept “this is just how the world works,” the game is over.
Breaking the Cycle: How We Snap Out of It
The good news? We’ve done it before.
Slavery was once normal. People ended it. Women being second-class citizens was once normal. People changed it. Factory workers being treated like disposable machines was once normal. People fought back.
What’s normal today doesn’t have to be normal tomorrow.
So, what do we do?
Stay Angry. If something feels wrong, it is wrong. Don’t let repetition numb you. Stay loud. Stay questioning.
Call It Out. When someone says, “That’s just how things are,” challenge them. Change only happens when people refuse to accept the status quo.
Stop Playing Their Game. Politicians and corporations want you to move on, to forget, to get distracted. Don’t. Keep receipts. Hold people accountable.
Remember: Normal Isn’t Always Right. The biggest lie we’re told is that we have to accept the world as it is. We don’t. We never have.
The Real Question: What Are We About to Normalize Next?
Think about it. Ten years from now, what will we look back on with disbelief?
Will we have accepted total surveillance as “just the way things are”?
Will billionaires have even more control over our governments while we fight over scraps?
Will we have watched the planet deteriorate further while calling it “inevitable”?
Or will we be the ones who said enough?
Because here’s the truth: Nothing changes until people demand it. The moment we stop questioning, the moment we stop resisting, the moment we stop caring—that’s when we lose.
The world doesn’t just happen to us. We shape it.
So the real question isn’t just What have we already accepted?