Last Updated February 13, 2018

Have we come to expect a pain free world? How is this expectation affecting our society?

Now that President Donald Trump has allocated funds to fighting the Opioid Crisis, it might be time to begin thinking about our current generation’s weaknesses. Not the addiction “weakness”, the inability of our generation to deal with pain on all levels, emotional and physical. Are our government policies and spending directly tied to pain aversion? Is this harming society as a whole?

Let’s travel back to the Egyptians and the Roman Empire. Building an empire required slave labor and backbreaking work in a hot Mediterranean climate. We can all agree that the future generation shouldn’t advocate slave labor. But, we should realize that progress of that caliber requires a dedicated workforce of strong calloused hands. We shouldn’t shy away from manual labor or pretend there isn’t a need for manual labor in an automated world. What is a fair wage for this type of work? Does the government know what the magic number is? Maybe the government can analyze housing prices, cost of living and average income data to arrive at a logical number. But, by arbitrarily setting a minimum wage are we in effect standardizing what is acceptable? What if we let the workers negotiate their wages? Would the number be higher if the workforce declared what they believe the fair wage for performing manual labor is? Some might argue that the workforce is incapable of negotiating with powerful CEOs. If this is true, is it a sign of weakness in our workforce? Have we created a law for protecting workers from the pains of being overworked and underpaid? If the workforce could feel the pain of being underappreciated, would they be better negotiators? Would they be more likely to seek advancement in their trade? Would society benefit from higher wages all around?

When the Pilgrims landed, they brought with them many aspects of the Elizabethan Poor Laws. There was a classification system breaking the poor into two classes, the worthy (elderly, sick and orphaned) and the unworthy (drunks, vagrants and lazy constituents). The “unworthy” would be sentenced to a deeper pain if they tried to live under the welfare system. They could be ejected from the parish or sentenced to jail if they refused to work. By creating a more painful alternative to hard work, the Pilgrims deterred the “unworthy” from taking advantage of the welfare system. Does the welfare system of today impose enough pain on the “unworthy”? Are we able to classify the recipients or is that too painful for those applying for welfare? Yes, a pain free welfare system sounds like utopia, a safety blanket. But, should it be pain free? What about the pain it places on the rest of society? Is the struggle for survival ever really pain free? Does a little pain spur growth and prosperity?  

You can debate for hours over how to fix the opioid epidemic. Stricter laws, more treatment centers, less prescriptions, better awareness, more medical training. The options are endless but, to come up with a solution, perhaps we should look to the source. Whether you point the finger at big pharma or the prescribing doctors, most will agree that opioids are over-prescribed. Why are they prescribed more often now? Hundreds of years ago the same drugs were prescribed for a vast array of illnesses we are now able to fight with simple antibiotics. Should they not be utilized less today? Again, we should probably look at our society’s weakness in our inability to deal with pain. Today, we run to the doctor for every minor cut, bruise and headache. Doctors are trained to make us feel better. When we arrive at a doctor’s office, we expect the doctor to fix the issue. In the pain arena, that means painkillers. Painkillers often mean opioids. When did we stop having the ability to withstand a migraine or some lower back pain? Did the Gold Rush prospectors have back pain? Minor pains were of no concern to doctors of the past as they had to travel great distances to see their patients. They couldn’t be bothered with non-emergency medical conditions. Opium was prescribed as a long-term treatment for diseases like TB in the past but, you didn’t see the abuse you see today. Was it the life responsibilities of the wild west that kept opioid users out of the addiction cycle? Afterall, it would be quite difficult to ride a horse or work a ranch on high levels of opium. Were we better able to prioritize life, pain, and drugs? Is life too easy today? Does today’s easy life allow opioid users to perform on higher doses of opioids than would have been customary in the 1600’s?  

Maybe the pain and uncertainty of early life could solve some of our societal issues. Would we be harder working, less dependent, more sober? Is a difficult painful life, a better life for all?