The rhetoric of abandoning society for a life in the woods often hides a profound contradiction. Today we are witnessing a curious phenomenon: people who proclaim themselves “outside the system” while remaining part of it. With their mobile phones in their pockets, these modern digital hermits publish on social networks their “brave” choices of isolation, immortalising every sunset of their supposed freedom.
It is paradoxical to declare oneself independent of society while continuing to use its tools, benefit from its infrastructure, pay its taxes and work remotely thanks to its technologies. This contradiction reveals not so much an escape, but rather an attempt to distinguish oneself, to feel superior to a civilisation that is criticised, but from which it is not possible – and ultimately not advisable – to detach oneself.
Henry David Thoreau, the great American philosopher often cited as a symbol of life in the woods, also returned to social life after two years, two months and two days in his cabin by Walden Lake. His experience, however significant, was temporary and, more importantly, took place within easy reach of the town of Concord, where he was regularly visited by friends and family. Thoreau himself did not seek total isolation, but rather an existential laboratory from which to observe and criticise the society of his time.
It takes great courage to consciously choose to remain “within the system,” recognising its contradictions and attempting to navigate them lucidly. To accept the complexity of contemporary life without hiding behind the illusion of an impossible escape.
There is nothing heroic in pretending to be outside a system of which one is inevitably a part. The real challenge is to live it critically, to contribute to its improvement while recognising its limitations and inconsistencies.
The supposed moral superiority of the one who exiles himself (but not too much) often hides an inability to face reality in all its complexity. It is easier to criticise society from a safe distance - perhaps by sharing this criticism on Instagram - than to actively engage in the difficult task of living it from within.
True resistance lies not in running away, but in the constant effort of those who, seeing the contradictions of the system, choose to confront them without deluding themselves into thinking that there is an easy way out or a position of moral superiority from which to judge others.
Original in German: https://www.weltanschauung.info/2025/01/il-mito-dellisolamento-nellera-digitale.html
Spanish translation by Counterpropaganda: https://www.counterpropaganda.info/p/el-mito-del-aislamiento-en-la-era?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1504081&post_id=156616767&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=wm70y&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
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