But if he avoids reality by living in a fantasy world of easy distractions, he goes soft (and insanely so...like the Woke).
The magic it seems is to stay completely in touch with reality so as to not lose touch with it, but take regular breaks (just temporary breaks, not a divorce) so as to reinvigorate one's spirit.
There's a reason why wisdom in America was rural. Farms and the small towns near them are closest to the harshest daily reality of life.
And there's a reason that cities and universities are the most divorced from reality (and liberal). They are, collectively not individually, the most distant from the harsh realities of daily life.
As human society becomes more distant from kind of reality that is metaphorically represented by farms, we had better figure out how to stay in touch with reality. Otherwise, we will continue down the easy path of decadent and hedonistic avoidance to our extinction.
I think there is much truth in what you say. But if I may…
I lived in a small town.
I worked in Manhattan for a long time. Indeed, most of my career was spent in concrete jungles.
It’s real easy to become divorced from reality in Manhattan. Indeed, when the Village Voice still has the ability to laugh at itself, it referred to Manhattan as “that tropical little island off the coast of America.” The leftists I met there were off-the-charts. The few conservatives I met tended to be intellectuals or Objectivists - and I doubt many of them owned a gun. A fireplace to them is a pellet stove.
But the same is true of life in a small town. In my small town, everyone looked and talked like me, generally had the same values, and rarely left town. It was sort of nice. But…mention NYC, and you got a dystopic, Alex Jones-ish description that clearly came from someone who’d never been there.
Some of the best FReepers are folks who get around and get out often. They bring a perspective that’s empirically-grounded. They may live in a small town or Gotham. But their philosophy is American.
“As human society becomes more distant from kind of reality that is metaphorically represented by farms, we had better figure out how to stay in touch with reality. Otherwise, we will continue down the easy path of decadent and hedonistic avoidance to our extinction. “
Reality always finds a way to reassert itself,.. of making sure you don’t ignore it.
It’s the old battle of reality vs fantasy, conservatism vs radicalism. It’s a battle that has been going on forever and will most likely continue forever. It’s in our nature. It’s the disease of “Affluenza”.
Kipling captures it rather well in his “The Gods of the Copybook Headings”.
“As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man-—
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:-—
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return! “
https://www.poetry.com/poem/33442/the-gods-of-the-copybook-headings