Cynics say that people like us are foolish idealists, because we’re fighting according to our values and not according to what seems possible. But these cynics are the real idealists, so fixated on the ideal of “success” that they become paralyzed, unable to act without the appearance of likely success. And anyone who controls the appearance of what is possible and what is impossible controls these people utterly. That’s how a lion “tamer” is able to abuse and humiliate an animal that could kill him in seconds, by giving it the illusion that it can’t win. And people who have been given the illusion that they are powerless in what they really care about, like the lion, become depressed and lethargic, and stop caring, and just go through the motions waiting to die.
In our culture this is called “growing up,” and these mature and sensible people are always telling us that we’re “wasting” this or that because we can’t succeed. Even if we can’t, what’s more of waste, a trapped animal that fights to the death, or one that dies without a fight?
I grew up all the way by the time I was five years old by this standard.
Now that I'm an actual adult I've learned that growing up has a lot more to do with emotional maturity, self-confidence, and social responsibility. If a system suppresses the honest expression of emotions and the confidence to be totally authentic within a group and instead encourages people to consider themselves each the enemy of all others in a competitive system, I don't think it's a conducive environment for actual maturity.