Couch Potato Syndrome

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give once peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future"(Krakauer 57).

Topic: Inspiration or Fool?

        While Chris may not be agreeable in some of his ideas, the advice he gives to Ron Franz really is not only an inspiration for others, but a wake up call to society as well. Chris has grown up in an abusive home where he saw his mother beaten almost daily. Yet she never tried to change her situation, rather, accepted her unhappiness until she died. Chris must have not only seen this within his family, but also as he traveled from place to place. Meeting people who lived in regret because they never took the initiative to change for the better. So Chris learned that the only way to have true peace is to find it yourself. If you are unhappy now, you will never be happy unless you change. Society now is afraid of change however, where we find it easier to accept what is than alter what can be. We rather take what we know can have rather than risking to have something even greater. That greatness is our innate spirit to push towards true peace and happiness, something McCandless already figured out.