Straying away on a janky bike from the Albanian €6-a-night-breakfast-included hostel I found myself crossing into the town's outskirt along Shkodër Lake. On a janky bike of his own, a local Albanian teenager rode up next to me. “Hey! Where are you from?” he asked in passing English. “The United States. California.” I responded. “Wow…!” as if I was some celebrity. Moments passed as we biked with the view of the shimmering blue lake on our right, and a view of dilapidated living quarters on the left. I had never seen so poor homely living conditions in real life. What a juxtaposition in scenery. I sipped on bottled water, biking on. It was a hot June Mediterranean day. He watched as he biked side-by-side. “Do you want some water?” I asked. “No-no,” he shook his head. “I only drink Coca-Cola.” At the time I did not know what to make of this. I had some sense that he wanted to impress me. I thought it was an attempt to portray an elevated social status - to the "celebrity" American who unlikely happened to stumble into one of Europe’s poorest neighborhoods. While this was likely true, I later came to understand why it was true. The next two weeks that followed, I visited four distinctly different Albanian cities: Tirana, the congested capital city, Gjirokastër, a romantic mountain town, Sarandë, a dreamy beach town in the southern corner, and Pogradec, the lake town bordering what is the most beautiful lake I have seen, Lake Ohrid. Wherever I went, I observed how the country was trying to move past the 45-years of isolation it had experienced under communistic lockdown. After 1992, the country was rendered faithless, uneducated, directionless, and in desperation of proper infrastructure and material wealth. In 1976, the Party of Labour even declared Albania to be the first atheist country in the world. That being said, in my opinion Albania is the most diversely beautiful European country I have visited. But, I have never seen such an ideologically confused state. I think the teenager was ideologically naive. In his naivety, he adopted a cult-like attitude to subscribe to Coca-Cola and only Coca-Cola, under the belief that constructing a part of his identity as “I only drink Coca-Cola" was a good sign of character. A characteristic that is in his best interest - to his well-being and all else. Albania, once deeply communist, now finds itself captivated - hooked - by its new capitalistic becommings. Is he a byproduct of the cultural excitement towards the country's newfound capitalism. Is he even aware of this? Be careful, history, unbeknownst to you, is conforming you to certain beliefs, beyond your awareness - even beyond your willingness. You over-ascribe to an ideology because you were born in the wake of the opposing ideology’s despair, and having noticed the remnants of the opposing ideology fringed on the edge of your cultural experience, you have a tendency to believe that because it was harmful, we ought to move in the other direction. And you are led to believe the opposing ideology is the saving grace that drives forward social change. As an American, I am familiar with the negative symptom of our capatislistic system, which consumes many Americans: using brand identity to bolster individualism and self-worth. Ironically, it turns everyone into sheep. For many Americans, they’re unaware they carry this disease. It’s only by knowing what healthy looks like, seen in parts of the world where the disease is not rampant, am I able to diagnose. Dear Albanian teenager, you have already clung too hard onto a con of capitalistic thinking. You’ve foregone a piece of yourself by disenfranchising your identity towards a morally baseless capitalist-ideal. Capitalism needs strong morals to thrive. I believe it works under the right circumstances. You ought not be what you eat or what you eat. Nor what you wear. Neither what you drive. Certainly not what you drink. Stay clear from alcohol kid. -