We are still hunter-gatherers

 Mentally humans are still hunter-gatherers living in a society that has far surpassed who we have been for nearly 99% of human existence. Anthropologists often note that in hunter-gatherer society there is a lot of leisure time and certain societal or cultural norms that keep people in line. In the tribes I visited while living in Ethiopia I as shocked to find that they did not have a word for work. They undoubtedly did what I would consider work, but they did not see it as work. When a group would go out gathering firewood, water, or to forage they made is a communal and fun activity. Chatting or sometimes singing songs that had been passed down for who knows how long. There was always a sense of community in everything they did.

This is not how the west works, specifically the US. It is a highly individualized society and one is expected to fend for ones self very early on with the constant threat of losing it all if anything were to go wrong. This "civilized" society is a far cry from that of our ancestors leisurely and laid back lifestyle. You may think "civilization has enabled us to live longer, and has drastically improved our lives." The only single reason people like Steven Pinker say our ancestors only lived to, say, 30, is because they include the high infant mortality rate which drastically brings overall lifespan down to around 30-35. In reality if one were to make it out of childhood, they could be expected to live about the same lifespan we do today. 

You say civilization has improved our lives? In what way? Modern healthcare has drastically reduced infant mortality rate for specific demographics in this country, that's for sure. You could argue vaccines have saved countless lives, however if we did not live in dense city settings then these diseases would not be a large scale issue and pandemics likely would not even happen at all. Has it made our lives easier? Imagine working hard and most of your value is taken by someone who doesn't work. To top that off you likely have healthcare tied to your job, so if you lose your job, you lose your insurance. If you do not find a job quickly then you will likely lose everything else too. 

Why cant we create a society that more accurately reflects that of hunter-gatherer society? Why is it that our current civilization really only benefits a handful of people while the rest of us struggle to survive? If civilization is not meant to benefit all people, then it should be burned to the ground and everyone return to the wild like our ancestors. There is no point in living detestable miserable lives like domesticated animals when we could do otherwise. In reality we are at a point where civilization is global and all is interconnected, when there is a collapse, the whole world will feel it. So either we act now to set up a more eco friendly society that benefits all, or we suffer the consequences of total collapse. Each time history repeats itself, the price goes up. And this time the price is unfathomable, collapse will be catastrophic and wide spread.