This primarily applies to men…
By my reckoning, this phenomenon goes back at least as far as the Crusades. Men living unexciting, predictable, mundane, basic existences wanted more. They wanted the primal norm of having to fight to survive, and fight to protect. They went off to war then and they do so today – how else to explain tens of thousands of Russians choosing a likely war death?
War has lost its appeal to men over time, because we have become more informed, but also because there are other forms of what we now call deaths of despair. Drugs and alcohol are prominent today, especially alcohol in Eastern Europe (men, again). The extra verve or excitability means less certain outcomes, which is welcomed, even if most of the outcomes are not great.
Gambling is almost as old as prostitution, and totally qualifies when it comes to uncertain outcomes, and an escape. Arguably so is hiring a prostitute. Gambling is always a part of society, but even more so when it is legal. It is becoming far more prominent in the US, first with sport betting being legalized, and then crypto, the gamification of share trading and now outcome markets. It is all an escape from the mundane.
Video games are a massive industry for a reason, the escape. As is the cinema. One of the biggest themes in both is warfare – if you don’t actually go off to war, then you can at least fantasize about it. And now we have something totally nuts – join ICE and you get to cosplay being at war. Just like all of the above, there are real world consequences.
The solution is obvious but not easy. We need non-destructive, harmless, meaning to our lives, for when your job doesn’t do it for you.
Sports are a modern solution, both as a participant and as a fan. Being a part of an uncertain outcome, with no real world harm. Except for a bit of soccer hooliganism…
Partisan politics are filling that need, especially in the US, where people attending rallies and cheer for their team.
Even reality TV where the season ends with a winner, fits the bill.
What else can we do, along similar lines? What new thing can we manufacture that gives us purpose in a positive way?