Enough: Lifestyle Cannot Fix This

Sunlight and stair master’s are being thrown at people trying to survive the hellscape of late-stage capitalism and corporate-run governments. We’re told to move more, meditate, eat whole foods, go outside. But the root cause of our suffering isn’t that we don’t know how to get sunlight. It’s that we’re living inside systems built on poverty, violence, isolation, housing insecurity, food deserts, toxic food, harm, sick buildings, microplastics, systemic racism, soulless jobs, disability, stress-induced chronic illness, and environmental collapse.

Sure, lifestyle is implicated in many diseases, but cardio prescriptions aren’t going to fix it.

What will?

Care-centered economies.

Universal healthcare.

Walkable urban design.

Anti-racist and anti-poverty programs.

Community-centered, trauma-informed care.

Rest. Time. Silence. Green space. Art!

Communities and belonging that regulate our nervous systems and keep bodies from breaking under the weight of survival.

We need support and safety nets.

Regulations on firearms.

Environmental protections.

And regulations and proper enforcement on the nefarious practices of corporations that thrive on manipulation, extraction, and human exhaustion.

We don’t have these things because they are not immediately and obsessively profitable and our nervous systems cannot withstand the stress.

We need the prioritization of natural forests and parks, clean oceans, and uncontaminated drinking water. Four-day work weeks.

Paid leave.

Mandatory vacations.

Employee ownership.

Mental health days.

More flexibility, more dignity, less burnout.

Phasing out gas-guzzling cars in favor of more responsible technologies and ways of moving through the world.

We need less credit scores and more accountability from the billionaires writing the laws on credit.

Dare I say it? We need universal basic income.

The lie of “survival of the fittest” has been weaponized to make people believe their suffering and exhaustion is personal failure. What people aren’t getting is that a stair master is just another pill. This is bootstrap mentality applied to health.

Enough! We don’t need more prescriptions for personal discipline.

We need systems of care.

We need an end to patriarchal modes of governance.

We need to see outside of this ridiculous paradigm we’ve been forced into.

We need Black, Indigenous, and disabled women leading us toward a better future.