On The Benefits of Hardship

We Are Killing Ourselves With Comfort

Book Report: Today I finished an absoeffinglutely wonderful book, ‘The Comfort Crisis’ by Michael Easter. It is a captivating blend of Easter’s adventure hunting caribou in the deep Arctic region of Alaska and his summaries of an astounding variety of research related to the book’s title. I hereby submit this book report, with a bit of editorializing.

Societal Collapse: Full disclosure; I am a Doomer. We, in our present mentality, have neither the will, the time or even the means to make the kinds of changes we need to ensure our survival. But short of the completion of the 6th Mass Extinction, our society (USA) is crumbling all around us.

There are as many reasons for this tragedy as there are stars in our galaxy, but let’s focus on the one that Easter’s book presents. We are, quite literally, killing ourselves with comfort. Not surprisingly, some of the more popular reasons in that galaxy dance around the fringes of Easter’s proposition.

Millions of my fellow Boomers (not Doomers) believe our society’s moral fiber has been destroyed by the ‘sex, drugs & rock ‘n roll generation,’ which, ironically, is our own. Kids don’t respect parents, teachers, or any elders or ‘authority figures.’

Women refuse to accept their god-appointed role as mothers and homemakers, insisting on crashing through as many ‘glass ceilings’ as they can, leaving the rearing of our children to strangers who may or may not know ‘how’ to do so, according to our beliefs.

The other half of the country believes the opposite. Parents, teachers, and authority figures have gotten us into the pickle we’re in. Those obsessed with Identity Politics insist that not going far enough in destroying the Patriarchy has led to inevitable strife, embracing slogans like ‘We will not go back!’

Both camps have just enough truth in them to attract members already prone to their argument, no matter where that propensity comes from. Sadly, both camps miss the mark. Ultimately, they are both distractions from the fundamental issues that threaten our existence, not just as a nation, but as a species.

One issue on which both camps seem to agree is our inability to accept the need for ‘delayed gratification.’ The younger the people, the less tolerance they have for ‘waiting,’ although even we older folks have been affected by the immediate gratification expectation. The displeasure is voiced as a lack of the ‘Protestant (Puritan) work ethic’ or the outlandish, racist myth that only Americans value ‘hard work.’ (Um, did you ever notice the key word embedded in Protestant?)

Again, both are off base. When we were functioning in a sustainable manner, i.e. ‘within our means,’ it wasn’t ‘gratification’ as we presently understand it, some kind of ‘bonus’ or ‘reward.’ When we endured and successfully navigated whatever difficulties life presented, the result was that we made it ‘work.’ Tomorrow came, and we were there.

Making it work meant maintaining stability and connection. When we lived in manageably-sized groups (Research says that means 150-250 people.), the chances for success were thousands of times greater than in the overpopulated groupings we inevitably mismanage today.

However, the central message of ‘The Comfort Crisis’ goes well beyond all of the causes of our social disagreements. Our Culture Wars are totally irrelevant to the largest problems we face, which includes our very survival as a species. The last is where Easter and I part company, as I will outline below. But first, where we agree.

As with all other forms of life, experiencing ‘discomfort’ has been a central part of our survival, an impetus to act in ways that have allowed us to avoid danger and take preventive or corrective measures. Without the pain, fear, suspicion or curiosity we all experienced, we would have long ago fallen victim to the very real dangers in our environments. Discomfort formed the foundation on which we brought our intelligence to bear.

Our stomachs told us we were hungry, so we went in search of food; either by gathering, hunting or both. That smell in the air said there was a predator nearby, so we prepared to defend ourselves, with a weapon or by hiding. We had a rash on our body, so we began avoiding the plants we unknowingly strolled through earlier today, now having to find another field where that neighboring medicinal plant grows.

The lists were endless, and they were different depending on where we lived, but they all had a common element - throwing us ‘out of balance’ to one degree or another. Today, especially among those who are most comfortable, or more to the point least uncomfortable, those primal instincts have been largely silenced, replaced with our addiction to immediate gratification.

No Morality Play: For all but a very few who, like me, stumbled upon a different world view (I’m not ‘expert’ in anything, nor am I a genius.), the storms raging in our country are being fought as one, huge, moral battle against the perceived forces of evil. And this is exactly where both ‘sides’ of our internecine war are equally wrong, maybe tragically so since our very survival requires getting it ‘right.’

This is where Mr. Easter and I part company, or so it would appear. He seems to believe that our incredible intellects will magically produce a ‘cure,’ or he and like-minded people will somehow convince people to engage in regular ‘misogis,’* which will revitalize our sensibilities. Maybe a combination of them both?

*Misogi:https://www.myglobalviewpoint.com/misogi-challenge/

I, on the other hand, believe that we are already witnessing the seeds of our ‘salvation.’ We can hear it in the angry screams of the ‘Right-wingers,’ the fundamentalists of every religion, the appearance of a neo-Luddite movement, and on and on.

At the moment, much of this angst, the painful yearning of our most ‘natural’ selves is being misdirected and manipulated for other purposes, significantly for supporting authoritarian and totalitarian ideologies and characters.

As a long-time but now ‘retired’ Leftie, it disheartens me to see that the so-called ‘Left-wing’ shows no such signs. They continue to demand even more comfort, but ironically only for themselves and those who agree with them. Getting rid of every ‘deplorable’ remains a top priority.

There is, however, a collection of folks who, no matter their opinions about the Culture War’s issues, are finding their way back to our species’ true origins. They range from the thousands of people either returning ‘to the land’ or embracing new ways to live there.

If they are able to stay the course, which looks like it will result in a slow but steady growth in their numbers, then when the inevitable collapse of industrial civilization occurs, at least some of us will be as prepared as possible to endure the equally inevitable discomfort. Peace.