Escapism as Harm Redux.

It's time we embrace guilt free escapism.

The internet used to feel like an alternate reality from the one we occupied. Nobody took racist 4chan trolls or flame wars seriously because, it’s the internet.

In the late 2000s, web accessibility moved from the confinement of desktops(your living room or a library) → cell phones(everywhere you go). The late oughts popularity of smart phones was a changing point in society. Wherever we go, the entire world is a few swipes away. The discomfort of walking past a housing encampment or just an awkward conversation at a party—all now mitigated with immediate escapism in the form of the internet.

Forget the Boomer Facebook memes criticizing our smart phone hooked society. I dare present you with a subversive argument. It’s high time we begin to consider escapism as a form of harm reduction*.

The Rise of Kid-ults

In 2021, The Bridgerton Experience captivated American women's minds, hearts, and wallets. The experience can only be described as adult Disney land meets Dinner Theatre. This isn’t alone, however. There are numerous interactive experiences like this. Maybe it’s nothing new, just LARP-ing for neurotypical people.

Sadly, I couldn’t convince a single soul to attend the Bridgerton Experience with me. I’m also frequently shown advertisements for an adult Dress-Up studio. For only $40 you can reignite childhood wonder. They have an Oakland based studio where one can play for 90 minutes in their array of princess dresses. It sounds like tons of fun. I am not sarcastic. I would go if I had friends.

This isn’t just for bourgeoisie women either. On TikTok and you’ll find a variety of adults spending their time giving makeup tips, dishing celeb tea and doing silly dances. All in the pursuit of having fun and escaping reality.

In a previous post, I wrote in favor of allowing adults to reject adulthood for as long as possible. And I still believe in it. Adulthood is traumatizing.

Smartphones

So much of life is boring. Long car rides, work shifts, hair salon appointments and workouts all pretty much suck. You’re moving through the motions but if you’re like me, you feel like your mind is wasting time. Maybe that’s just me.

While there’s an argument for mindfulness—something I am only beginning to practice—there’s also the case for escapism. A decade ago I worked at McDonald’s. A month on the fry shift ripped something from my soul. It also made my brain feel like jello. If only I had an airpod + a podcast subscription, I probably would have enjoyed my work a bit more. Sure, it would have distracted me from the horrible work conditions I worked under. My conditions would have been the same either way. One approach just made it tenable.

There are also times where I’ve enjoyed the social aspect of a busy bar, while on my smartphone. To an outsider this could have been a sad state of the times. For me, this was safety. If I went out alone and didn’t have a smartphone I would have been pressured to engage in uncomfortable social interactions. I’m sure I could have made plenty of friends on outings if I didn’t have my cell phone. I’d like to work my way up to that. In the meantime, I like being able to escape and see no issue with it.The ultimate escape-hatch of a smart phone is a viable solution for social awkwardness.

“Awareness”

There’s an argument that now more than ever, people should be paying attention. For that I contest—What should people be paying attention to? There’s their personal lives. Many people earn just enough to get by every month. Beyond the financial sphere, most of our attention is spent towards personal relationships with family. Then, there’s no central place of truth. Regardless of your politics this is simply the state of modern journalism. Even if one were to be aware it would likely be a false, sensationalized state of awareness. People who opt for the anxiety-inducing news cycle over Kardashian Instagram feuds are just as guilty of escapism. Yet this time it’s a self righteous escapism to support their doomerism.

The trauma of personal day-to-day life is not compatible with awareness. If you have the time and energy to be aware I encourage you to do it. For the vast majority of people this simply isn’t an option. Escapism is the best option for many who are simply aiming to recharge to enjoy life.

HI-Agency

By saying people should embrace escapism, I’m not instructing anyone to give up. The first step in changing your reality is by accepting it. Rather than fall into the dichotomy of impending collapse or delusional positivity, you’re best off evaluating objective truths about your reality. With that understood, it’s also imperative to let go of things outside of your control. War, natural disasters and (insert tragedy of the week) is out of the control of individual citizens. Yes yes, I’m sure if we all chipped in $1 we’d stand a chance against the multi-billion dollar funds being pumped into the wallets of congress. However I’m asserting that we’d all have a far easier life if we embraced escapism without guilt.

For the things you can change in life, take a HI-agency approach. When you see opportunity for change, embrace it. For the things you can’t control, practice guilt free escapism.

*Harm Redux

*Harm reduction refers to a set of public health policies intended to reduce the harm of recreational drugs and sex. Condoms over abstinence and narcan over just say no rhetoric/criminalization. For the sake of this blog post, I’m using harm reduction to as a reference to the better of undesireable choices.