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This is a common rhetoric by [neo]liberals like Bill Gates, Pinker (both friends with Epstein too…), Peterson, Bari Weiss. Pinker has at least one book wholly f

This is a common rhetoric by [neo]liberals like Bill Gates, Pinker (both friends with Epstein too…), Peterson, Bari Weiss. Pinker has at least one book wholly focused on this rhetoric. The problem is, this stuff could have been said 20, 50, or 150 years ago. Always can say “look at all the progress, why are people complaining about stuff”. And this is what has happened historically. People want to keep the status quo. Not rock anything. If we all thought this way, then gay people will never get to the point of being treated like any other person instead of having more difficult lives in many places still. Can substitute gay people for all sorts like trans people or black people/minorities in some circumstances.

simonh 4y ago
Dissatisfaction is the spur toward progress, but the point is there is progress. It's complaining that things are always getting worse, or even that progress isn't possible and things are always getting worse that winds me up. Maybe being in my 50s gives me a different view of it than those much younger.
- skinnymuch 4y ago
  I still don’t understand how what you wrote is different than what some people said 50 or 150 years ago. We now know from hindsight, the people who were doing your rhetoric in the past in enough circumstances where they wanted the status quo to remain as their life is going well enough. IE civil rights, suffrage, slavery, and so on. The person who you responded to didn’t say things are always getting worse. They implied progress isn’t possible, but it was specifically about money. It’s not even about progress in general. Which were your issues. I do agree the commenter was far too negative and being black and white. Especially for something as general as making money. I wonder if age is the main reason. I know people more radical than me who are past 50. My principles personally have only been more reinforced since I was in HS. Which is 15+ years ago. World and politic views makes sense to me as the biggest reason for how both of us see this. Just my hunch, not saying you’re wrong.

simonh 4y ago

Dissatisfaction is the spur toward progress, but the point is there is progress. It's complaining that things are always getting worse, or even that progress isn't possible and things are always getting worse that winds me up. Maybe being in my 50s gives me a different view of it than those much younger.

skinnymuch 4y ago
I still don’t understand how what you wrote is different than what some people said 50 or 150 years ago. We now know from hindsight, the people who were doing your rhetoric in the past in enough circumstances where they wanted the status quo to remain as their life is going well enough. IE civil rights, suffrage, slavery, and so on. The person who you responded to didn’t say things are always getting worse. They implied progress isn’t possible, but it was specifically about money. It’s not even about progress in general. Which were your issues. I do agree the commenter was far too negative and being black and white. Especially for something as general as making money. I wonder if age is the main reason. I know people more radical than me who are past 50. My principles personally have only been more reinforced since I was in HS. Which is 15+ years ago. World and politic views makes sense to me as the biggest reason for how both of us see this. Just my hunch, not saying you’re wrong.