Larry McMurty wrote this great read, Lonesome Dove. I read it in 1986 and fell in love with the characters, the writing, the story, the ideas. I loved that even kids could hunt a rabbit and fix it for a meal. Or that guys could trek hundreds of hard miles on horseback, sleep under the stars and survive storms and winters that way. They crossed rivers, fought with skill, drove cattle and horses… these lucky few were really free. Not in lack of hardship, but they had options. They had options.
As we have created our lives, seeking freedom from the mundane tasks of living, we have become prisoners. Of those who feed us and clothe us and house us. We are domesticated like farm animals. We have the mentality of our pets… forgetting how to fend for themselves, staying as kittens and puppies, forever young and helpless.
We have robbed ourselves of options. The poor in cities can’t grow anything on the concrete. Those in the suburbs wouldn’t know how to plant, much less maintain, a vegetable garden. How many of us could start a fire without a match? Or catch even a mouse (if we could force ourselves to eat it).
Do we have the option to survive outside of the very society that is strangling us? Can we even imagine it?