Young and restless
Have our lives become too easy?
When I was in junior high, I used to watch “The Young and the Restless.” I was “the guy” in a friend group of 7 girls, and they watched it so in order to be relevant, I felt like I had to watch it too. Social pressure is a thing, especially when you are a 13 year old boy.
As HS came, the friend group did what friend groups do when a common purpose and mission ends (graduating grade 9 and have people to hang out with): people get on with their lives in their new stage. I stopped watch Y&R and focused on squash. Not surprisingly, the guys I played with weren’t interested in Viktor Newman like I was. We trained and talked about making the national team and where we would go to college.
Some years later, I happened to be home and saw Y&R was on so I sat down to watch. Turns out all the characters were still dealing with their same issues; only their drama was the same, the frenemies more hated, and their kids more F’d up than ever.
I only raise this because I feel like America is living out a soap opera. No story line is too extreme; you are a racist if you hang out with people you have things in common with; privileged if you have things, and if one person dies of the vaccine it’s “greater good” but when an officer makes a mistake, cities burn.
So, why do people watch soap operas? Because they have too much time and time comes when you aren’t farming, or hunting or gathering. When life is easy, humans become bored, and need (or create) drama to stimulate them.
Maybe this chapter in America is a clear indication that life is too easy and the real question is: are we capable of overcoming our boredom with intellect and gratitude or do we need to lose our comforts before we once again understand priorities?
What we are seeing is a repeat in history. When a society requires the burden of others but not on themselves the society is doomed to fail. Rome, Spain, Attila, They all needed other countries to support them after they conquered those lands. We have conquered the world and gotten lazy and fat and forgot what it took to do the heavy lifting. We can still innovate but don't know what it takes as a society to create. We are bunch of people more interested in making videos and commentaries instead of making products.
Yes, David, we have become lazy and complacent..along with that, overweight and unaware of simple things..like how to find water and dig a well if current systems fail...how to maneuver thru failure of electrical/power systems..how to heal through nature..so many lost arts..cause we are so very lazy & because our idols revolve around ‘a chip’ (& I don’t mean ‘a chip off of the old block’!) it would be awesome, if we could find stimulation again in the simple things & slow down a bit ..u know, smell the Roses..but, I am showing my age!! Love your question.