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A Disease of Prosperity

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zamphir66
zamphir66 Posts: 582 Member
in Debate Club
I've been thinking lately about how so many of our poor lifestyle choices -- and the chronic conditions that stem from them -- are made possible in large part by the immense luxury we enjoy in the developed world.

I'm thinking of:
* routinely eating 500+ more calories than your body needs
* alcoholism, substance abuse
* extremely sedentary lifestyles
* creature comforts that would boggle the mind of someone in, say, sub-saharan Africa

My question is: are we in the developed world becoming "soft"? What would happen if there were a large meteor impact, or a volcanic eruption that dwarfed anything in living memory? In other words, could most of us get by if we were suddenly plunged back into the middle ages?

Is this "softness" a threat to the long-term health of humans as a species? Can we do anything about it?

Are we destined to end up like the movie Wall-E?

Just some showerthoughts.
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Replies

  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
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    You're not wrong :) It's even infected our legal system. Remember "Afluenza" ? :D Pretty sad state of affairs imo.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    Oh, we're definitely screwed if modern society suddenly collapses back a few centuries. The funny thing is, even the most active of us aren't ready for something like that.
  • SymbolismNZ
    SymbolismNZ Posts: 190 Member
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    Absolutely; there are indications this also impacts our psychological conditions due to the fact many people aren't challenging their brain or body in the ways we were evolved to, due to the fact that we just have it way too easy now-a-days.

    Supermarkets, Refrigeration, Combustion Engines, Electricity, Structured Healthcare, Advanced Agriculture (owing to combustion + electricity) are all recent advancements if you think about it.

    Population has boomed since the early 1900s and ultimately, much smaller percentage of roles entail physical work these days.

    Food is one aspect of it, but it's a whole bunch of thing.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Bikes are one of the few things humans have invented for convenience, that make us healthier the more we use them.
  • cdavison2018
    cdavison2018 Posts: 15 Member
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    Could we grow enough of our own food in our backyards with a few chickens to subsist? Could we heat our homes without electricity or gas delivered effortlessly to us? Could we provide ourselves with drinkable water? Interesting to think that moving even in small steps toward these could make us more fit and able to self-rely.




















  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    cdavison2014 wrote: »
    Could we grow enough of our own food in our backyards with a few chickens to subsist? Could we heat our homes without electricity or gas delivered effortlessly to us? Could we provide ourselves with drinkable water? Interesting to think that moving even in small steps toward these could make us more fit and able to self-rely.

    In situations like pp mentioned we'd be raiding and fighting to the death for necessities like food and weapons. Having chickens and a garden would paint a big bullseye on you :D

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    What I fnd really strange in our luxury world of today is the unhappiness and depression everywhere. Everytime I go home to the States more and more people among family and friends are depressed. It's an epidemic. It always leaves me puzzled. People that have much more than I had as a kid and it doesn't make them happy or serene. Very sad. For the OP--what are people that can hardly walk goning to do if catastrofie hits? Not a pretty picture.
  • Miz_T
    Miz_T Posts: 150 Member
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    I personally believe that man is a survivor. There would probably be a few bumps along the way, but mankind in our first world bubble would overcome.
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    edited January 2017
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    I lived in two different small towns in Italy, one a mountain town on the east and earthquaky side of the Appenines, another in the south near the Adriatic sea in Calabria. Both towns were organized in such a way that the majority of houses had access to large areas of land which were planted with grapes, nut or fruit trees, gardens and stone sheds for chickens and goats. The women were out everyday, managing the garden, hqnging the daily wash out, and tending milking etc the animals, rain, snow or sun. Their houses, even in winter had the windows and shutters open to the air a good part of the day amd smoke coming out of the chimneys. So my take away to you is, move to a small medieval town in modern Italy? No, no, I left. Too backward, there is a lot of superstition and strangeness that goes with that way of life which, trust me, none of us would be prepared for either that goes right along with not being physically tough enough to endure that life. I don't have the solution to centralization of food products, long distance shipping of food products, mechanization of everything, and the delocalization of products, or that families no longer take care of one another and neither do governments care. Sorry to end this on a dark note.
    edited with an apology.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    My thoughts:
    zamphir66 wrote: »
    My question is: are we in the developed world becoming "soft"?
    Yes
    What would happen if there were a large meteor impact, or a volcanic eruption that dwarfed anything in living memory? In other words, could most of us get by if we were suddenly plunged back into the middle ages?
    No, I don't believe most of us could or would.
    Is this "softness" a threat to the long-term health of humans as a species?
    Maybe. Definitely a threat to most, but I think some humans would survive.
    Can we do anything about it?
    Yes, but I'm not sure we will.
    Are we destined to end up like the movie Wall-E?
    I don't know. Perhaps.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    cdavison2014 wrote: »
    Could we grow enough of our own food in our backyards with a few chickens to subsist? Could we heat our homes without electricity or gas delivered effortlessly to us? Could we provide ourselves with drinkable water? Interesting to think that moving even in small steps toward these could make us more fit and able to self-rely.




    With so much of our population living in cities growing food and chickens would not be feasible without a mass migration. How much food do you think could be produced within say 50 miles of Manhattan? No where near enough to feed the population of the area.
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
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    Just here to point out that back many generations when managing a household and feeding your family was an all-day affair of physical work, people died earlier and suffered more with illness. Obesity was a sideshow act back then, but the general population wasn't living longer.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
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    fittocycle wrote: »
    My dad and I had this discussion not too long ago. As he said, when he was young, people ate at home unless it was a special occasion. They simply couldn't afford to eat out and there weren't many options to begin with. Dad said desserts were a rare treat.
    And if you think about it, people were more active in their daily tasks as well. My grandmother hung laundry out to dry, washed dishes by hand, cultivated her own garden, canned food from the garden, and the list goes on and on. Movement was a part of life. And now we sit. And sit and sit!

    Some of us grew up this way...many people even in the western world still live this way. There are pockets of people all across the US that don't have automatic dishwashers...still grow their own food...and still hang their clothes out.

    I grew up in an area where 95% of the people lived the way that you described. I can remember my mother owning a washing machine that you had to turn the handle to wring the clothes out. We gardened, canned, froze almost everything that we ate. Raised our own chickens...had cows and pigs. Our sitting down time was usually to shuck corn or snap beans.

    Regardless of this way of life...there were still many over weight and obese people. We worked hard...we ate hard. Sometimes that was our only form of pleasure. Food tasted really good after a long hard day. There was a lot of fat...in everything!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,574 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Bikes are one of the few things humans have invented for convenience, that make us healthier the more we use them.
    That can be said for just about any exercise equipment though including running shoes. The issue is not the technology here, but the lack of usage.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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