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Medium: People Are Happier In Social Democracies Because There’s Less Capitalism
Have you ever wondered why Americans appear to be such strange people, to the rest of the world? On the one hand, they are unbelievably cruel to each other — prole against prole. Who else lets their kids be shot at school, and their poor go without insulin, and never let their elderly retire? In today’s world, almost nobody, really. So capitalism breeding a kind of intense rivalry — by keeping life’s necessities from Americans, and forcing them to compete with each other for what is freely given to everyone in every other rich country in the world — goes a very long way to explaining America’s legendary cruelty.
Medium: What The Hell Are We Going To Do About The Boomers?
Children are a kind of tyrant, one we endure because they are also powerless and need us. But what if the tyrants also have all the power? What if these children insisted they needed no help, thank you very much, and how DARE you take away their ice cream? What if these children had already tasted the pleasures of adulthood, and instead of needing to learn how to manage responsibility and power safely, were no longer capable of managing their power and responsibility at all?
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Finally, last week I discovered that a friend at my old church died - unexpected death, although possibly related to health issues he'd had all his life. He was a year younger than me. Lots of personality. No wife or children left behind, so there's that.
I didn't see any notices or hear anything about it, I just spotted a friend's insta photo of the funeral service program. I'm not disappointed, exactly, maybe just a little disconcerted.
Have you ever wondered why Americans appear to be such strange people, to the rest of the world? On the one hand, they are unbelievably cruel to each other — prole against prole. Who else lets their kids be shot at school, and their poor go without insulin, and never let their elderly retire? In today’s world, almost nobody, really. So capitalism breeding a kind of intense rivalry — by keeping life’s necessities from Americans, and forcing them to compete with each other for what is freely given to everyone in every other rich country in the world — goes a very long way to explaining America’s legendary cruelty.
Medium: What The Hell Are We Going To Do About The Boomers?
Children are a kind of tyrant, one we endure because they are also powerless and need us. But what if the tyrants also have all the power? What if these children insisted they needed no help, thank you very much, and how DARE you take away their ice cream? What if these children had already tasted the pleasures of adulthood, and instead of needing to learn how to manage responsibility and power safely, were no longer capable of managing their power and responsibility at all?
--
Finally, last week I discovered that a friend at my old church died - unexpected death, although possibly related to health issues he'd had all his life. He was a year younger than me. Lots of personality. No wife or children left behind, so there's that.
I didn't see any notices or hear anything about it, I just spotted a friend's insta photo of the funeral service program. I'm not disappointed, exactly, maybe just a little disconcerted.
no subject
Yeah, that sure does sound familiar.