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But one must first talk not about scientific discoveries that go their own way (security is indeed important for a child's development, but what exactly a child's security is – that is an entirely separate issue), but about certain uncodified social conventions that often lead to rather comical consequences.
It is, in a way, charming that post-war Europe (and the Soviet Union too) has raised a generation of people convinced that their pensions are guaranteed. Come to think of it, absolutely no-one can guarantee that a deposit in a bank will stay in place no matter what (a war, certain natural disasters can easily “swallow” it, not to mention a thing as trivial as banks going bankrupt).
Money in a piggybank is even less safe (it can get stolen, devalued, or one could lose the piggybank). And yet, the pax Europeana with its complex social security system has convinced people that today's contributions will turn into benefits in the future. Today, they see the state not as their creditor (and creditors can become insolvent and default – one cannot even wreak one's fury by throwing a debtor into jail these days), but as a bag of money that only needs some kicking to start spitting banknotes.
There are more social security illusions. Remember old tales, legends, history. What is taken as wealth there? Wealth usually carries two attributes: it always, at least partly, is a result of luck (even if you are a mighty warrior, you still need good luck of running into a princess in need of a saviour, so you can save her, marry and get half of a kingdom) and is never something a man has a right to – it can always be taken away.
Absolutely no-one can guarantee that a deposit in a bank will stay in place no matter what (a war, certain natural disasters can easily “swallow” it, not to mention a thing as trivial as banks going bankrupt).
The modern society often takes wealth to be a human right – an inseparable part of his or her life. Granted, people have always saved and protected their wealth. However, in the olden days, they did not believe, deep in their hearts, that property could always be secured (that might be one of the reasons why, oftentimes, they did preserve their treasures).
Today, people believe that wealth acquisition, growth, and retention is a law, that only life that sticks to it is normal. A young person looking ahead now imagines how she goes to school, then gets a job (or starts a business), earns increasingly much money, then (there's often a very definite financial threshold for that) gets a husband or wife, builds a house, has children (not vice versa – having children and then building a house for them would be irrational), raises them, educates them, “prepares for life,” perhaps even buys them a house, and then peacefully and securely grows old. As for death, we tend to avoid thinking about it or do it simplistically – for instance, “I will definitely not die old.”
A sense of social security slowly grows inside a person and brings various consequences. For one, it shapes a certain attitude towards work. A modern European does not see work merely as something that puts bread on a table today. Work is the essence of life, its central part and foundation. It is not only social security that leads to such importance being attributed to work.
In part, it is an important trait of the “society of calling,” in part, an aspect of the puritan worldview. However, the social security illusion turns work into a second life for a person. Discussions about unemployment are very telling. Obviously, losing a job is great misfortune to many people who truly end up in poverty that is very hard to pull oneself out of.
However, it is more often the case that unemployment leads to despair, alcoholism, depression or even suicide. The anxiety is shared even by those who are valued members of the society and who would almost definitely not end up “on the street.”
A simple sacking has become a blackmail tool – not only in business, but in politics and public service, too, where a post has never carried any additional guarantees. Life of a statesman used to bring certain pleasures, but the price to pay for these pleasures was perennial danger of losing the post. Today, we want pleasures with none of the dangers. It shows that we've lost our grasp of the notion of adventure.
Any historian will tell you that adventure is the driving force of the humankind. It's almost too banal to remind that it was the spirit of adventure that built Rome and the desire for security that destroyed it. Opportunism, as well as faith, drove European noblemen to crusades. Not only did these crusades introduce them to the Orient, but helped define their own identity.
It's almost too banal to remind that it was the spirit of adventure that built Rome and the desire for security that destroyed it.
Adventurers are the true authors of geographical discoveries and architects of oversea empires. Adventurism was what Portuguese sailors, Spanish conquistadors, and British imperialists had in common. Not to mention numerous colonialists, gold diggers, first archaeologists, scientists, technology inventors.
Adventurers have even left a trace in Lithuania's recent history. For instance, in the independence wars of the early 20th century. Many conscripts joined the army after being promised land for their service. Some historians take this fact as a clear proof of Lithuanians' lack of patriotism.
But let's think of it. Land for military service – it's not some pension from “Sodra.” Before you can make something of it, you must struggle – not only to survive, but to win, as the enemy will certainly not give any land. Perhaps that is the genuine – practical – kind of patriotism?
Be that as it may, volunteers were victors of the independent Lithuania. They were the biggest benefactors of the land reform and created the agricultural paradise that we still feel nostalgic about when we talk about “Smetona's Lithuania.”
Why is adventure so important to people? Maybe because it is a very deep spiritual experience. “Whatever doesn't kill us, makes us stronger,” must have been one of the few correct assertions by Nietzsche.
Paradoxically, when Europeans lost their taste for adventure, they became truly insecure. And increasingly so. Much more people in Europe would have probably survived a nuclear meltdown back in the Cold War years – when things were constantly on the edge – than today, when they do not feel any threat, while in fact we live next to a country as thoroughly corrupt and armed (with nuclear bombs) as Russia.
It's another reminder that security (taken as a guaranteed life) is nothing but illusion. Only she who understands that she will never be secure, is truly secure. We should, therefore, accept the downturn, the current economic and political crisis, as a favour.
It is clear, even today, that if Europe preserves the Union, it will not return to the deceptive paradise of Brussels. Those who have seen it from up close, can tell how empty, fake, and dull it is – nothing to be sorry for, really. One must welcome new colours of life and be ready for challenges. The world belongs to biggest realists – the adventurers.
