this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2025
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Showerthoughts
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This is the way things have always been. Going all the way back to the days of Bronze Age kings who post the laws in the town square and everything was punishable by death or dismemberment.
But in a lot of ways we’re a lot better off than the poor people were back then. Look at all the electric appliances, heating and cooling, transportation, fresh produce and spices from all over the world, fresh meat and bread… Even if you’re working at Starbucks and can barely afford to pay rent on your 1 bedroom apartment you still have a ton of luxuries a Bronze Age king could only dream of.
Now am I saying things are great and that we should stop complaining? No. Of course not. But we shouldn’t let our desire for change prevent us from appreciating what we have. That road leads into the dark tunnel of depression and mental health crisis.
People use all kinds of clichés to try to deliver this last message. “Touch grass” is a popular one. The problem with them is how trite and condescending they are. That’s not what I’m about. If you are suffering because of these broader issues then my wish for you is to find some joy in something simple that you have right now.
It’s easy to look at a guy like Elon Musk and just boil over with rage. Here’s the dirty secret about him (and other billionaires like him): he’s not happy. He’s addicted to winning. It’s a totally self destroying compulsion. Same goes for Jeff Bezos. You can see it in the failure of their relationships. They’re like real life Walter White.
Not universally, and not always. Even in the Western tradition there were free self governing cities.
I don't have the time and energy to elaborate and have the inevitable subsequent debate, but it's defeatist and unhelpful to say that hierarchy and oppression have always defined human existence. We need to demand more.
Nowhere did I say we shouldn’t demand more. You can be angry and wanting for change without letting those feelings overwhelm you and driving you to despair. If you are arguing that people really should be depressed and suicidal because of things in the world outside them which they cannot change alone then you are wrong. No one should be letting the news affect them so deeply as that.
We can agree on that, certainly. The line between mental self-preservation and complicity in a harmful system can be thin, but you're generally right.