From Surviving America’s Depression Epidemic, by Bruce Levine
“Given the human need to be contemplative without regard for productivity and efficiency, and given America’s taboo against nonproductivity and inefficiency, Americans, in a sense, are pushed toward illness. …
“If you believe, as consumer culture instructs us, that depression is wholly bad, then you try to eradicate it. …
“Consumer culture is more about selling products aimed at diverting people from emotional pain than healing the source of the pain, and it promotes products that must be purchased at a significant cost … (e.g. synthetic drugs). The natural crafts of transforming emotional pain to energy and healing emotional wounds are not great consumer products because they are available to us without money.
“… The faith of consumer culture is that all pain, tensions and discomfort should be eliminated by industrial products and services.
“Traditional Lakota and Blackfoot cultures celebrate joy, attempt to remedy suffering, and have healers; however, these cultures also accept that discomfort is part of life. Instead of trying to completely eradicate pain and discomfort, many traditional peoples attempt to deal with discomfort, pain, and death in a humane and dignified manner. Adulthood, in many nonconsumer cultures, is not primarily a chronological milestone; adults are differentiated from children after they have learned not to be controlled by a fear of discomfort, pain, and death. Traditional Lakota and Blackfoot adults know about healing, dignity, humor, courage, and self-control. They also understand that pain has meaning. They understand that one can never truly know how to treat another in pain without ever having been in pain. Without pain how does one learn compassion, patience, duty, and gentleness.” pp80-81