If you had to choose between living at home with your parents or having your own decent apartment, which would you choose? The average man in our contemporary would feel ashamed to be living with their parents after they went to college. Even though there is more safety in the first option, it is overruled by the dominating drive for independence and freedom. Freedom, in a contemporary society, is the ability to make decisions without having to consult someone else and having many options. While there will always be some limits, such as federal laws, there is still a huge difference in the amount of freedom one has depending on who they live with, what job they have, and how many options are available to them. Mencken once wrote that, "The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe." This may have been true during Mencken's time, but modern society has turned against safety, branding it as "the easy way" and "boring". When safety is a boring option, the average man favors the risks of freedom.
One of the biggest stigmas in modern society is that against grown men and women living with their parents. Many college students and graduates find themselves living back at home again when they struggle to conjure the money needed to buy their own living space. Parents with stable incomes can offer a safe place to live, where college students can live and worry about other issues. However, our modern society looks down on this, seeing it as an unwanted level of dependency. Anyone who lives with their parents after high school is guaranteed to be embarrassed when admitting to it; conversely, one is likely to see college students proud of the fact that they can afford their own apartment away from home. The fact is simply that contemporary society encourages freedom and the risk associated over options that are safer but dependent on others.
Another area in which people are likely to compare themselves is occupation; the type of job one has can have a huge effect on how others see him/her. For example, think of the difference between a secretary and CEO of a company. The average person in contemporary society would rather be a CEO than a secretary, because being a CEO is seen as more interesting. Secretaries can earn decent salaries and usually hold stable jobs, but are not in charge of as many decisions. A job that depends upon the decisions of someone else is seen as easier and less exciting than a job that allows for more decisions. A job as a secretary is safe, in that it generates enough income and is a full-time job, but does not impress the average man. CEO's are often idolized and payed attention to because they are in charge of so much and make all the really important decisions. While this requires a lot of responsibility and involves a lot of risk, it also involves a lot of freedom, which the average man craves more than safety.
A final aspect of freedom desired by the average man is a variety of options. It is so engrained into our modern society that most people don't notice it, but the truth is that variety is a must-have in everything from career options to food options. Imagine you're going out to dinner with your friends and have to pick where to go. One option is a nice restaurant that you always go to, which you know has food that you like. On the other hand, there are a few other restaurants in town that you've never been to before but sound interesting. The safe option would be to go to the same restaurant as always, because you are basically guaranteed to enjoy the food. Yet, the average man would be encouraged to pick a new restaurant because of the need for risk and expanding one's future options. If you always go to the same restaurant, you will always have a good meal, but if you try a new restaurant and like it, you will have one more option for next time. It may not seem like it, but it is a risk that the average man instinctively accepts as proof of individual freedom and avoidance of habitual safety.
For centuries, mankind has been driven to focus on protecting itself and ensuring safety, but the establishment of safety has reversed this process. It is in man's nature to keep moving forward, and the next step from safety is freedom. Since Mencken's time, modern society has stigmatized safety and become addicted to freedom.
