[zwkrt]

Up until approximately 100-200 years ago (99.999% of humanity’s existence) it was a possibility in most of the world to retreat into complete wilderness and live as a hermit. Now there’s nowhere left to go. We have wilderness but it is owned. We have recluses but they have SSNs and tax burdens and fingerprints. A person who becomes detached from society is put in a mental institution. The result is a kind of cultural fascism/authoritarianism. You MUST live in society, and there is only realistically one to choose from. What an incredibly unprecedented global experiment!

It seems to me that for some the only winning move is not to play.

EDIT: and as I understand it Japan’s culture is especially brutal for some personalities, although I have no first-hand experience. For all the problems we have in the US at least I can be a total wackadoo without feeling like I have failed my entire family and shamed myself and all my acquaintances in the eyes of society.

[burntoutfire]

> it was a possibility in most of the world to retreat into complete wilderness and live as a hermit.

You can still f off into Canadian, Siberian, Amazonian wilderness without the government or anyone else caring about that.

[paulryanrogers]

Urban centers without enough green space can be incompatible with solitude 24/7. Too expensive without roommates, no where outside without other people nearby, possibly only a bathroom or small bedroom without another person in it.