Here we go with the third and final part of my interview with author, editor, comedian and escapology trailblazer Rob Wringham:

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Tom:  Is there a healthy way to engage with the world of work and consumerism?

Rob:  There are two ways. You either need to find a job and a consumption pattern you’re genuinely happy with (and no kidding yourself about it because delusion will come out in gross and undesirable ways) or else you need to accept that you’re only working for money (and not kudos or because you love it or because you think it’s useful to the world). If you settle for the latter, you might also like to reduce your hours to minimise the negative impact it has on your life. 

When it comes to consumption, it’s honestly better not to be a big consumer. You’re not just destroying yourself by buying a lot of crap you can’t take with you when you die, you’re also helping to destroy the only habitable planet in the known universe for no good reason as well.

Tom:  In 2019, the WHO reported that nearly a billion people were living with some sort of mental health disorder. Are there any links or parallels between the current mental health epidemic and Escapology?

Rob:  Well, the mental health crisis is exacerbated by work: through burnout and rustout, through alienation, through the sacrifice of personal values and dreams, through a lack of choice and control, through economic coercion. I say: use your beautiful mind to escape before you lose it.

Consumerism doesn’t help either: buy this, buy that. It will rarely make you happy in any meaningful way. To have good mental health, you need to be in control of your own life and your own destiny. Work and consumerism don’t generally let you have that. They’re not designed to.

Tom:  What does success mean to you?

Rob:  To me personally? I like to feel creative, to have made one or two things each year. I also want to make enough money each year to survive another twelve months with dignity. I don’t want to live in a big gaudy house, surrounded by material wealth. I have a one-bedroom tenement flat, which I share with my wife in a city I’ve carefully chosen. I’d like to hold on to that lot in life. That’s really all I want. 

I suppose I want to make some small impact on culture as well, to discourage people from having a negative impact on the world through toxic work and consumption habits. But that’s enough for me. I put flight over fight every time.

Tom: Where can readers go if they want to dive deeper into the world of Robert Wringham and Escapology?  

Rob:  Visit my website at wringham.co.uk for the full lowdown and newescapologist.co.uk to learn about Escapology-related books and the magazine. 

Thanks if you do. X

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