Interesting take. I can certainly emphasize with ALL of it. I think there are ways around some of these issues. Like finding something to do that generates enuff money to be happy and even if be it outside the box. The remaining question is can that person integrate socially or not. Which I think was one of Ted's shortfalls, was failure to maintain at least a few good friends... It can make a difference.. But really we are talking about the matter of being a social lepro.. WHAT it feels like to know that society no longer has a place for you. In ANY other world from now that would be the equivalent of casting someone out the the long walk to their death. And really, thats kinda what people do to each other today. Is alienate and ostracize them to the point that they might as well be dead. I speculate that its not intentional on the part of the actors, but they are somehow socially "inclined" to treat other of varying profiles with scorn...Ted is an anarcho primitivist. John Zerzan outlines that system of thinking better than anyone else.
What's going on.
These are people that simply can't take it anymore. They are no longer hypnotized, sleep walking through life. They wake up to reality and look around at the absurdity and madness of the world that seems to run on autopilot.
What does a human need to survive. Water, food, shelter, clothing, some tools. That's it, that's all it takes to survive as a human. Guys like Ted and many others (including myself) ask what the hell are we doing all this extra stuff for. Ted saw the world of working 10hrs a day doing something he hated like many of us hate, and he left it all behind, once you live that way isolated and free to think without limits for many years you completely uncouple from the reality most live, you are in a whole other world, and if that world is threatened you know deep down that there is absolutely no way possible you can assimilate back into the beehive.
If your peace of mind is threatened, you will find many men that would rather self destruct than subject themselves to the ritualized humiliation that is modern life.
These men know that death is better, self preservation is only worth anything if they can live on their own terms, instead of punching a clock everyday to perform as a clown.