Are you averse to adventure? Are you allergic to yourself? Mike Ragsdale, one of my inspirations in the hyperlocal media realm, thinks you are.

We’ve become averse to adventure and allergic to ourselves. ~ Mike Ragsdale

Sadly, I think he’s onto something.

The context for his observation — lamenting Land Rover’s phaseout of the iconic Defender after almost seven decades in production — was a poignant, personal rant rather than a sweeping generalization, but I frequently find myself observing the same thing. (Perhaps it’s time to reread The Adventure: The Fate of Adventure in the Western World by Paul Zweig?

Here’s Ragsdale’s anti-adventure critique of our increasingly aesceptic world.

Sadly, this year, Land Rover officially announced The Defender Apocalypse: After nearly 70 years, the last Defender is slated to roll off the production line in December of 2015. Its emissions deemed unclean. Its aluminum shell considered unsafe. Never mind that they’re safer than motorcycles or scooters, and that recycling old cars is far better for the environment than crushing them in a landfill and then constructing something entirely new from scratch. These icons of adventure and global exploration have fallen victim to emissions regulations, airbag requirements and political correctness. There’s just not much room for Indiana Jones, Rick Blaine, Ernest Hemingway or T. E. Lawrence in a world absorbed with hand sanitizer, carbon offset points and water vapor cigarettes. We’ve become averse to adventure and allergic to ourselves. ~ Mike Ragsdale (Source: “Back from the Dead: Dying Defender Finds Life Off The Beaten Path“, 30a.com, May 27, 2014)

I’m old school, I guess. I’m allergic to pollen, and I struggle with gluten and dairy, but I’m NOT allergic to myself. And I’m certainly not averse to adventure! It’s my affliction, my addiction, my muse, my Holy Grail…