Why we Shouldn't "Just let People Enjoy Things"

Anything goes in this age of social media and self worship. Do whatever you like to do, as long as you keep to yourself and avoid hurting/bothering others, and live your best life! Except, it isn't really everyone's best life to be left to their own devices. Sometimes you just need some good old fashioned external interference. Over the next few paragraphs, I'm going to explain to you why not only why most should be left alone to do whatever they want all the time, but why it's bad and also wrong.

Left alone to suffer the endless grind

Lets start with the obvious, yes? Most people's lives are not good. They suck. Working a soul-crushing job, bad health, poor self-care, a lack of direction, and it just goes on. This is the kind of person that should be left to their own devices? They've been left to their own devices for years and look at how that turned out. Maybe less oversight isn't what's needed here. What's needed is someone to come in and say "look, your life sucks, but we can fix it with xyz - here's how to do it". Statistically, most people's "lives" are a half-conscious trudge through work, a short home life, and then sleep before returning to work again - with no end in sight. Few will acknowledge this, and out of these, even fewer will act to improve themselves and their standing. A lack of oversight has caused them to falsely equate "staying alive" with "living". These poor souls "live" for someone else's benefit and look forward to a few weeks worth of free time per year. Should they really be “left alone” to continue suffering under their miserable existence?

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Trapped and left to endlessly scroll

Social media is a horrendous trap that’s got many people - young and old alike - well within it’s vice-like grip. They spend hours and hours of their day staring at a piece of glass. Not laughing, not enjoying, not engaging, not creating, and not learning - during this time, they do little else but scroll and look. Rather than engaging in their hobbies, spending time with loved ones, learning a new skill, or catching up on work, they sit and stare at a screen, idly scrolling as the hours pass and day turns to night. What have they gained from this? What do they have to show for their time spent? Nothing, not even enjoyment, yet they continue throwing their lives away, one scroll and one like at a time.

All that time wasted, all of that time that will be wasted, could have been, and could be, spent doing something that matters. Not something that matters to you or to me, but that matters to them. Painting? Swimming? Netflix? Bushwalking? Reading? Hula-hooping? Whatever it is, it matters a hell of a lot more than just looking at pictures for hours at a time. Should these people be “left alone” to waste their lives scrolling through meaningless drivel on a screen, instead of doing something they care about? Only a soulless monster would think so.

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The antithesis of education and progress

Some respond with some variation of "let people enjoy things" or "let people live their lives" in response to others attempting to correct, otherwise innocent, misinformed or ignorant behaviour. Are we to believe that, upon learning of a friend's catastrophic financial or personal decision, made based on a lack of knowledge, the most ethical course of action is to sit back and do nothing? A friend is being swindled of tens of thousands of dollars and the appropriate action is to let them lose that money, based on some misguided idea of malicious non-interference?

This idea goes even further, so as to suggest that the act of advice or education itself, if not specifically sought out, is infringing on people's ability to live their own lives. Simply going through school, being taught how to speak and think and express oneself, is actually disguised oppression. The most important part of life, the formative years, should not be spent imparting knowledge, but instead wasted on momentary pursuits of gratification that children so often seek out if left to their own devices.

Even if you're resistant to the idea of modern formal education, I doubt that every single instance throughout history of a young person learning to read, learning a craft or trade, or even learning how to hunt, was completely voluntary. In fact, I would argue that many instances of a young person learning a new skill, to better the lives of themselves and their community, was forced. Many things that better our lives would not happen without outside pressures, for one reason or another. Should someone not learn to support themselves and their families, for no other reason, and regardless of the potential for personal and collective gain, simply because they would rather not? 

Left to rot in the jaws of addiction

And here’s the ultimate refutation of the “just let people enjoy things” movement; actual addiction. I’m the eyes of this crowd, a young man or woman hopelessly addicted to methamphetamine, or other such substances, does not even register as a problem. A hopeful life dashed in the wake of crippling dependence, from which it’s almost impossible to escape without outside help? That’s just people vibing! Not everyone will like the same things that you like! Get some perspective!

No! I say. I can’t stand idly by while blowhards and contrarian troublemakers try to justify meaningless self-destruction with their violent and insufferable insistence to forever play devil’s advocate. If an activity or habit is obviously detrimental to one’s health and well-being, and that person is being chemically compelled to participate, then something is obviously wrong. Right there is a soul in need of guidance. Don’t turn your back on them in the name of your misguided pseudo-intellectualism.

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“Just let people enjoy things!”

Of course, to any reasonable person, it makes total sense that some “enjoyable” activities shouldn’t be indulged in; that someone trapped by addiction, habit, or circumstance, needs help. That not everything that feels good is something that should be done, even if the only one being impacted is the person doing it. Not everything that seems fine is fine. To a reasonable person, there exist things that are harmful to the individual, that a compassionate member of society ought to help others overcome.

The reasonable individual knows that outwardly-apparent contentment can mask a pain that can only be caused by the drudgery of the daily grind and a feeling of desperate isolation as the months blur together and life passes by. The reasonable individual knows that harmful lifestyle choices are just that, and that, while people do indeed enjoy a wide range of activities and diversions, some are not worth what they take, and should be dissuaded from at all costs.