In LIFE … Seen as a Concentration Camp, author Adrian Gabriel Dumitru draws a compelling parallel between modern life and a “concentration camp,” where despite our freedom, we feel imprisoned by the circumstances, connections, and expectations that govern our lives.
Dumitru’s core argument is that life’s complexities often trap us, leading to a pervasive sense of unhappiness that is not quite depression, but a discontent born from realizing that we may never truly achieve happiness, despite having everything we once thought we desired. He speaks to the paradox of modern existence, where individuals—despite having all material comforts—feel stifled by invisible walls, unable to embrace their wild, free selves.
At the heart of Dumitru’s philosophy is the idea that most of us spend our lives acting like zombies on the stage of life, afraid of exposing our true selves and desires. We fear being pathetic, yet in trying to avoid it, we unwittingly become just that. He urges us to “fall in love” with life and stop being afraid of failure, to reject societal pressures and accept that all is temporary. This insight, coupled with his reflection that “the past is just dust in the wind” and the future is an elusive illusion, encourages readers to live in the present moment and simply enjoy it, unburdened by obsessions with what has been or what might be.
Dumitru doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable truths about life, acknowledging that “it’s all an illusion”—our happiness, our unhappiness, our sense of purpose. In his view, life is ultimately a game we play without understanding the rules, a spiritual concentration camp where we have everything we need, yet remain prisoners of our own desires and discontent.
The author touches on deep themes like the obsession with both the past and the future, and how they blind us from appreciating the present moment. He humorously notes that the Universe sends us exactly what we don’t ask for, adds a sense of existential irony to the work.
Dumitru’s message is that we have the power to decide whether we remain in this metaphorical concentration camp or leave. Happiness is a choice, and while it may seem elusive, it can be attained by accepting life’s temporary nature, embracing the present, and shedding the societal expectations that keep us trapped.
For readers who enjoy deep philosophical musings on life’s purpose, suffering, and resilience, LIFE … Seen as a Concentration Camp is a profound and enlightening read.
LIFE … seen as a concentration camp: philosophical & spiritual essays
The weird thing is that even if we are free beings … we feel like prisoners … trapped into an unwanted reality. And all looks a lot with a … nice concentration camp. Today … i see unhappiness everywhere. At poor people … but also at people that have all what they ever wanted. All look like prisoners into a weird prison … generated mainly by their thoughts. Unhappiness… is not depression. No… Hell no … This unhappiness i am talking about… is simple the result of the fact that happiness is not there. Is not such a big suffer …. but people are conscious that life is not what they really wanted. They simple are alive … and have a life. And … it’s ridiculous that many have all they ever dreamed … but they still carry on their faces that ugly mask of … unhappiness. I look at all those people around myself … but also at my own life … and i realise that it all looks like … we live in a reality looking more like a … concentration camp. But this is a place … where we actually have all we ever wanted … except the fact that we had became … prisoners. …. Of circumstances …. of connections with people we don’t really like … of lots of other things we can’t really accept into our lives. Of course … we are in better position than the ones … suffering of depression… which are in fact living in realities … similar with the real prisons … but still we can’t express our wildness side. We are not allowed to do it. We simple have to respect lots of rules … that are ruing our chances to be happy. This ugly concentration camp … drives us crazy … but we can’t get out from there. And it looks like … we will most probably remained trapped in there … forever. There is no real way out. So … we don’t really live in a prison … but we are still prisoners … into a weird place … so similar with a concentration camp … except the fact that we have all we ever desired. The paradox itself is that the Universe allowed us as all we wanted to become real … except the fact that we probably forgot to ask for the most important thing … happiness. So … dominated by unhappiness… life keeps going … with no real hope …that something will really change. We remain … there … not realising that being happy or unhappy can actually be a simple decision … Or maybe i should say … staying in that concentration camp … or leaving is just a decision.
A book and a cup of coffee 