The desire to escape been an integral part of human nature since the we learned how to speak and tell stories. Children escape their reality using their imaginations and day dreaming high schoolers do the same thing. Rich people escape their not so perfect perfect lives by visiting third world countries as tourists, slumming it out with the security of knowing if they have to escape their escape, a helicopter ride is a satellite phone call away.
Everybody, poor or rich, sane or insane, happy or unhappy at least occasionally has the urge to escape, lurking just under the surface. There's the prisoner who dreams of scaling the wall and running away forever, never to look back, and as the days drag on the chance of getting shot in the back seems to be more of an acceptable risk. The sci-fi fan who dreams of meeting aliens on an interstellar journey, or the fast food worker who dreams of never serving another burger, and the homeless man who wants to escape the sidewalks and sleep in a real bed. I'm not sure about other cultures, but I know it's almost un-American to not want to escape your life, after all isn't that what the classic American road trip is about? But it's only considered acceptable if you come back home after you get it out of your system.
Many of those who dream of escape will never manage to do so, either because they are too scared to or are unable. So instead they rely on the conventional temporary forms of escape to make up for it, like staying intoxicated on drugs and television every night after work, anything to avoid thinking about the fact that they got to get up tomorrow and go right back to the same job in the same town and see the same people. I think the powers that be want everyone to have unlimited access to the common forms of temporary escape because it keeps people from thinking too much. Thinking is dangerous. Escaping, really escaping, is dangerous. Society would change drastically if everyone gave up on their state sanctioned dreams of a big house, two kids, a beautiful spouse, a car, and of course a well-paying job to pay off their student loans with. What would happen if a significant people just sold 95% of their possessions and ran off into the woods or wherever? There is always going to be a few people who have successfully escaped, and that’s acceptable to society because as long as it’s a small amount then they can either be labeled as eccentrics and ignored or they can get thrown into prison or mental institutions as a reminder to the rest to stay in line. But you have to ask if the American dream is so great then why do so many people who have achieved it want to escape from it? How many people do you know who are truly happy? The point of this is that something is wrong, it's hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but something is wrong if the masses have to be drugged by narcotics, booze, and television to keep them from trying to escape their lives. Would you escape if you could? Let me know what you think about escape in the comments please, thanks for reading Steemians.
Famous adventures and prison escapes of the civil war (1893) (Public Domain)
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