NO ONE Gets to Decide What You Need to Survive

Chapter 8.2: Reason and Free Will, cont'd

Why this book | Title Page | Table of Contents
Preface | Introduction
PART 1
Chapter 1 (1.1) (1.2) | Chapter 2 (2.1) (2.2) (2.3) | Chapter 3 (3.1) (3.2) (3.3) (3.4) (3.5) (3.6)
PART 2
Chapter 4 (4.1) (4.2) (4.3) (4.4) (4.5) | Chapter 5 (5.1) (5.2) (5.3) (5.4) (5.5) (5.6) (5.7) (5.8) (5.9)
Chapter 6 (6.1) (6.2) (6.3) (6.4) (6.5)
PART 3
Chapter 7 (7.1) (7.2) (7.3) (7.4) (7.5) (7.6)
Chapter 8 (8.1) (8.2)
Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14
PART 4
Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 |
PART 5
Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Conclusion
Appendix | Works Cited

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Note: This is an installment of The Freedom Scale: An Accurate Measure of Left and Right. See here for installments of The Distributed Nation: A Plan for Human Independence.

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8.2 — What Makes Us Us?

• Reason, Con’d

  • From surviving to thriving

• Free Will

From surviving to thriving

Once we have seen to our basic survival needs—our “meat, drink, rayment, and lodging”—we use our reason for other pursuits: to improve our condition and comfort, to acquire items and experiences that bring pleasure, to expand our knowledge, and to create.

In the terrific animated children’s show Phineas and Ferb (which my teen son is now too old for…sigh), the title characters’ main activity is building laws-of-physics-defying buildings and amusements. In an effort to maximize their summer fun, these intrepid brothers build a new one every day, and each one somehow disappears at the end of the day, right before their older sister can “bust” them to their parents.

When a sailing accident leaves the family temporarily marooned on a desert island, the father asks the boys to build a quick shelter. What they come up with (and what their parents never see, of course) is a multi-level treehouse complex with all the amenities of a resort. When confronted by their flabbergasted and furious sister, Phineas explains,

“Well, there’s survival and then there’s living.”

The line between bare subsistence and everything else is not clear-cut. What constitutes an adequate amount of food? One can subsist on a diet of gruel, cabbage, potatoes, and a few apples in the fall, but one is better off with greater variety. Animal skins will keep you warm in winter, but moisture-wicking thermal underwear and a parka with “Omni-Heat® thermal lining” constitutes a significant improvement. A rude hut will keep out the elements, but I prefer my warm, dry house.

Who is to say when anyone’s “basic” needs are met?

And what if, once you’ve met your basic needs to a level you deem sufficient, you decide you want to learn to juggle, to entertain your friends and relieve stress? What if the desire to paint portraits or beautiful landscapes burns so hot you cannot imagine doing anything else? What if you want to live in a really big house?

No one can say where the line is drawn. Any attempt to determine a bare-minimum standard for human survival would require inhumane experimentation: Day 67: Bread and water diet for over two months. Temperature kept below 10˚ Celsius. Subject still alive…