A man questioning whether modern life is becoming too intrusive, expensive and controlled has struck a nerve online after asking whether anyone else feels close to “dropping out of society completely.”
Commentary YouTuber Jack Morgan reacted to a TikTok by user urg00phy_unkl, who described feeling trapped between the comforts of modern life and a growing fear that society is moving toward what he called a “mass surveillance nanny police state.”
The TikTok creator said he appreciates modern technology and convenience, but increasingly feels that ordinary people are losing control over their own lives to governments, corporations, algorithms and systems that collect enormous amounts of personal data.
Morgan said he understood much of the frustration, though he pushed back strongly when the man described suicidal thoughts as one possible escape from that future.
“I Don’t Want To Participate In That”
Urg00phy_unkl said he sees society moving toward a world where people at the top can monitor and influence lives without knowing anything meaningful about the people themselves beyond information collected through devices.
“I don’t want to exist in that state,” he said. “I don’t want to participate in that.”
He described the future he fears as a “cyberpunk nightmare dystopia” and said thoughts about that loss of freedom sometimes push his mind toward suicide, though he immediately added that he did not actually want to die and viewed suicide as giving up.
Morgan responded that the reaction was far too extreme, while also taking care not to mock people who genuinely struggle with mental health or suicidal thoughts.
“If you ever had that cross your mind, just know you’re way too cool for that,” Morgan said, encouraging the man to keep going rather than see death as an escape.
That distinction matters. The TikTok was largely about social alienation and frustration, but once the creator introduced suicide into the discussion, the tone changed considerably. Morgan’s response at least tried to pull the conversation back toward finding ways to live differently rather than abandoning life altogether.
Morgan Says Society Slowly Invited Surveillance In
Morgan agreed that modern surveillance has become difficult to escape, but he argued that people helped normalize much of it through convenience.
He pointed to fingerprint unlocking on smartphones, facial recognition, Ring doorbells, indoor security cameras, Alexa, Siri and other connected devices as examples of technology people willingly brought into their homes.
Morgan admitted that he used fingerprint recognition himself years ago, although he resisted facial recognition because it felt more invasive.
His point was that surveillance did not suddenly arrive in one dramatic moment.
Instead, people accepted one small convenience after another until constant tracking began to feel normal.
Cars now monitor drivers, phones know where people go, cameras sit on homes and roads, and connected devices can potentially collect information throughout the day.
“We kind of invited it in,” Morgan said.
That is probably one of the more interesting parts of the discussion because the tradeoff is rarely simple. Many of the technologies people complain about are also technologies they actively enjoy using, which makes rejecting them much harder than simply saying privacy matters.
Could Someone Really Drop Out?
The TikTok creator then asked what “dropping out” would actually look like.
Even a person who buys land and starts a homestead still owes taxes, he argued. Roads may contain license-plate cameras, drones can monitor property, and completely disappearing from modern systems would require giving up many basic conveniences.
He said becoming a hermit in the woods sounded appealing in theory because at least survival would depend on his own work rather than decisions made by distant corporations or billionaires.
At the same time, he openly admitted how miserable that life could be.
He joked about struggling with heat even while using air conditioning and acknowledged that living off the land would require finding clean water, hunting, trapping, growing food and handling everyday survival without modern support.
Morgan agreed that full-time wilderness living did not sound particularly enjoyable.
He joked that he was not even sure where “pepperoni pizzas grow,” but said he understood the desire behind the fantasy.
The appeal, for both men, was less about camping and more about control.
The TikTok creator said he would rather face a hard life he chose for himself than live comfortably while feeling like someone else’s “pawn or puppet.”
Morgan’s Answer: Keep One Foot Out
Morgan offered a less dramatic alternative.
Rather than completely leaving society, he said he tries to live with “one foot in, one foot out.”
He still has a house, running water, air conditioning, internet access and a job that depends heavily on social media, but he tries not to participate in every part of modern consumer life.
Morgan said he drives an older car because the insurance is cheaper, avoids taking on unnecessary expenses and does not bring every possible surveillance device into his home.
“You don’t need Alexa,” he said. “You don’t need any of that stuff.”
He acknowledged that some things are almost impossible to avoid. Banking increasingly requires digital access, cash is becoming less common, and even people with very little money often need smartphones simply to function.
His advice was therefore not to disappear, but to reduce dependence where possible.
Morgan also emphasized living with other people and sharing expenses, saying isolation makes modern financial pressure harder to manage.
He pointed to families and immigrant households he has seen sharing homes, bills and work, arguing that several adults combining resources can survive situations that would overwhelm one or two people alone.
That observation gets at something deeper than surveillance. Much of the frustration in the video appears connected not just to technology, but to the feeling that people are being asked to carry increasingly expensive lives individually.
Viewers Say They Are Feeling It Too
Morgan then read several comments from people who appeared to relate strongly to the TikTok.
One commenter said a household earning more than $150,000 a year, with a modest home, two cars and no children, was still struggling financially and considering selling everything, cashing out retirement savings and living in an RV on a parent’s property.
Another commenter said they had already cashed out a 401(k), purchased a school bus and planned to live on a farm while focusing on self-sustainability.
Others talked about becoming hermits, moving overseas or simply feeling exhausted by participating in the system.
Morgan said these kinds of conversations feel far more common than they did several years ago.
He argued that people who once felt relatively comfortable earning ordinary salaries are now facing higher rent, insurance costs, taxes and other expenses while earning more money than ever before.
One comment summed up that contradiction: making the most money of your life while also feeling financially worse off than ever.
Morgan said he could relate.
“There’s Always A Way To Maneuver”
Despite the bleak tone of much of the discussion, Morgan did not ultimately endorse abandoning society.
He said people are still living, working and finding ways to adapt, even when the system feels unfair or exhausting.
His preferred approach is to limit expenses, reject unnecessary technology, rely more heavily on people close to you and stop assuming that every modern convenience is mandatory.
“There’s always a way to maneuver,” Morgan said.
He also warned against obsessing constantly over every frightening development, saying awareness can become emotionally draining if someone spends all day focusing on surveillance, politics, technology and economic decline.
The original TikTok creator ended from a darker place, questioning whether a chaotic but freer society might actually be preferable to one that feels highly controlled.
Morgan understood the feeling but stopped short of agreeing that lawlessness would be better, saying he still values society and recognizes that complete disorder would create its own misery.
The exchange ultimately sounds less like a serious blueprint for disappearing into the wilderness and more like a symptom of wider exhaustion.
People may joke about cabins, school buses, RVs and mountain hideouts, but beneath those fantasies is a much simpler question: how much of modern life can someone reject while still remaining part of it?
Morgan’s answer was not especially dramatic.
Stay in society, he suggested, but do not automatically say yes to everything it asks you to buy, install, finance or surrender.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
