Pain is good.
I think that a good portion of the problems in our culture stem from our strong aversion to pain. Pain is really a good thing. It is meant to tell us something is wrong. And that we need to change something, to correct a problem.
Rather than treat the problem, our society tends to take a pill to make the symptom go away. This provides instant gratification, but the underlying problem remains. The result is addictive behavior. People keep treating the symptoms, but the problem will not go away on its own.
I find it quite impressive to watch TV commercials these days. It seems like every one is either a drug commercial of some type, or another product being sold using the "it will make you feel better" drug pusher approach.
If a child grows up in a culture where every time they have discomfort they are given a drug to make it feel better, doesn't it seem obvious that when they reach the discomfort of puberty, they are going to want to take something to make that go away?
Hard work is painful, childbirth is painful, sacrificial love is painful. Some of the best joys in life come through persevering through pain. We need to learn to deal with pain in order to have the courage to live our lives the way they where intended to be lived. If we have no tolerance to pain, we will avoid living life.
I see a lot of people out there who are averse to living life. They will not commit to a relationship. They are not having children. They are not pushing themselves to hard to succeed. It is a pain free life, But the pain of loneliness and emptyness will catch up to them eventually.
Interesting. I musicians, poets, and artists have been saying, esentialy, the same thing for centuries.
I don't think it is such a new problem. The only thing that has changed is the efficiency with which we treat the sypmtoms of life. People have long used mind altering substances, escapism, and just plain escaping to cover up the symptoms of lifes problems. It's just a lot cleaner to use prozac rather than a keg of mead or bag of opium.
Perhaps in the future we can design a drug which, when taken, induces the necessary motivation to deal with our problems rather then simply covering the symptoms. Until then, the more things change the more they stay the same. Now pass the mead!
Peace.
The other thing that may have changed is the speed at which cultural change is diseminated. In the years prior, Musicians, Poets and Artists had a lot more influence that the advertizers and marketers.
Also, I think parents who hopped their kids up on opium and meade on a regular basis would have been scorned for the most part. But parents who give their kids ritalin, paxil or prozac are generally praised for it.. At least by teachers. I could be wrong on that.. Just a gut feeling.