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I feel like the incentives to participate in ordered society are diminishing every year. I just don't see the benefits anymore: if one doesn't fight, then they

I feel like the incentives to participate in ordered society are diminishing every year. I just don't see the benefits anymore: if one doesn't fight, then they die meaninglessly anyway.

globalreset 3y ago
Billions of people all over the world go about their lives just fine, worrying about mundane things and slowly improving their situation every day. Almost all objective metrics point out at the human population doing better than ever and life being as best as it ever was. Someone somewhere said "the end is near", so let's ignore all the counter-arguments and counter-examples, human ingenuity and technological capability and weep instead.
- anileated 3y ago
  Unsubstantiated weeping about the fate of the world is fine, self-fulfilling prophecies on how there are no incentives to participate in ordered society aren’t.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  I've lived in a humid sub-tropic region (South Texas) of the US my entire life. A couple weeks ago we had an all time record-high heat index of 117. Objectively, that seems pretty high, and subjectively, it sucks huge dick. I'm really not all that interested in learning how much higher my body can withstand while being told that everything is fine, and anyway whatabout China?
  - midoridensha 3y ago
    >I've lived in a humid sub-tropic region (South Texas) of the US my entire life. >it sucks huge dick >I'm really not all that interested in learning how much higher my body can withstand while being told that everything is fine I'm guessing as a Texan, you have a car (or worse, a truck)? You're causing the situation you're complaining about.
    - hotpotamus 3y ago
      How about, I'm mildly homeless (essentially I live with my parents to leverage economies of scale around energy usage; I don't air condition a dwelling that only I live in), I ride an electric bike when possible (to include to my office which is 2 miles away), and I've recently taken up beekeeping and growing a portion of my food hydroponically. I never fly in a plane. I will eat basically anything, but it leans away from beef and other problematic stuff. I doubt I'm doing enough, and I've become pretty convinced over the last seven or so years that humanity is just straight-up fucked anyway (no kids for me which I could say is a green thing, but really I can't imagine explaining the magnitude of the fuckedness they'd face (and the living with parents thing sure doesn't help either)), but anyway I'd feel even more responsible if I did that stuff. Regarding the truck thing though, the Ford Maverick looks pretty useful and I believe there is a hybrid, so maybe that would be reasonable? #notalltexans lol
sph 3y ago
We are on the verge of a massive societal if not natural shift, and academics and politicians are too busy in their ivory towers to see that the prosperity of the post-war era has been a dead man walking for two decades at least. Just look at anyone below age 25. It is utter lunacy for them to believe in the system as a force for good, or a necessary good either. "Your vote counts," and other bullshit media keeps repeating like a broken record. It's going to get worse, but humanity takes a step forward for the better only after massive tragedies, not when megacorp says they're going net zero, or that party promises they'll fix it for real by adding a tax on meat products. Humanity and Earth will eventually be fine, but right now we're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, so to speak.
- unmole 3y ago
  > Just look at anyone below age 25 The bulk of people below 25 live in the Global South. A majority of them live in countries experiencing strong economic growth, albeit from a low base. This kind of doomerism is exclusive to rich countries and is little more than whingeing.
  - sph 3y ago
    I reckon patting ourselves in the back because we have helped the Global South out of poverty is a very privileged Western point-of-view. The large charity foundations billionaires give the money to are doing undeniably good work, but it is a massive circlejerk for rich people to imagine that thanks to their generosity they're now all singing Kumbaya. How's the deforestation of the Amazon going? At least now the indigenous tribes can drink Coca-Cola now instead of plain water. Isn't globalisation just great?
    - resolutebat 3y ago
      Western charity had fuck all to do with the countries that have successfully pulled themselves out of poverty. They built themselves up through exports and incredibly hard work until they became rich enough to start consuming themselves.
heresie-dabord 3y ago
> the incentives to participate in ordered society are diminishing [...] I just don't see the benefits anymore I don't know where you live, of course. But you seem to be in despair. If I may suggest that you reflect further or talk with someone, your view of society is clearly not true. There continue to be significant benefits to participating in ordered society. And this, for the vast majority of humanity.
ericd 3y ago
Human conflict is the most immediate danger from climate change, as tensions rise. We can kill ourselves a lot faster than the climate has any hope of doing it for us. So maybe don’t exacerbate that?

I feel like the incentives to participate in ordered society are diminishing every year. I just don't see the benefits anymore: if one doesn't fight, then they die meaninglessly anyway.

globalreset 3y ago

Billions of people all over the world go about their lives just fine, worrying about mundane things and slowly improving their situation every day. Almost all objective metrics point out at the human population doing better than ever and life being as best as it ever was. Someone somewhere said "the end is near", so let's ignore all the counter-arguments and counter-examples, human ingenuity and technological capability and weep instead.

anileated 3y ago
Unsubstantiated weeping about the fate of the world is fine, self-fulfilling prophecies on how there are no incentives to participate in ordered society aren’t.
hotpotamus 3y ago
I've lived in a humid sub-tropic region (South Texas) of the US my entire life. A couple weeks ago we had an all time record-high heat index of 117. Objectively, that seems pretty high, and subjectively, it sucks huge dick. I'm really not all that interested in learning how much higher my body can withstand while being told that everything is fine, and anyway whatabout China?
- midoridensha 3y ago
  >I've lived in a humid sub-tropic region (South Texas) of the US my entire life. >it sucks huge dick >I'm really not all that interested in learning how much higher my body can withstand while being told that everything is fine I'm guessing as a Texan, you have a car (or worse, a truck)? You're causing the situation you're complaining about.
  - hotpotamus 3y ago
    How about, I'm mildly homeless (essentially I live with my parents to leverage economies of scale around energy usage; I don't air condition a dwelling that only I live in), I ride an electric bike when possible (to include to my office which is 2 miles away), and I've recently taken up beekeeping and growing a portion of my food hydroponically. I never fly in a plane. I will eat basically anything, but it leans away from beef and other problematic stuff. I doubt I'm doing enough, and I've become pretty convinced over the last seven or so years that humanity is just straight-up fucked anyway (no kids for me which I could say is a green thing, but really I can't imagine explaining the magnitude of the fuckedness they'd face (and the living with parents thing sure doesn't help either)), but anyway I'd feel even more responsible if I did that stuff. Regarding the truck thing though, the Ford Maverick looks pretty useful and I believe there is a hybrid, so maybe that would be reasonable? #notalltexans lol

sph 3y ago

We are on the verge of a massive societal if not natural shift, and academics and politicians are too busy in their ivory towers to see that the prosperity of the post-war era has been a dead man walking for two decades at least. Just look at anyone below age 25. It is utter lunacy for them to believe in the system as a force for good, or a necessary good either. "Your vote counts," and other bullshit media keeps repeating like a broken record. It's going to get worse, but humanity takes a step forward for the better only after massive tragedies, not when megacorp says they're going net zero, or that party promises they'll fix it for real by adding a tax on meat products. Humanity and Earth will eventually be fine, but right now we're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, so to speak.

unmole 3y ago
> Just look at anyone below age 25 The bulk of people below 25 live in the Global South. A majority of them live in countries experiencing strong economic growth, albeit from a low base. This kind of doomerism is exclusive to rich countries and is little more than whingeing.
- sph 3y ago
  I reckon patting ourselves in the back because we have helped the Global South out of poverty is a very privileged Western point-of-view. The large charity foundations billionaires give the money to are doing undeniably good work, but it is a massive circlejerk for rich people to imagine that thanks to their generosity they're now all singing Kumbaya. How's the deforestation of the Amazon going? At least now the indigenous tribes can drink Coca-Cola now instead of plain water. Isn't globalisation just great?
  - resolutebat 3y ago
    Western charity had fuck all to do with the countries that have successfully pulled themselves out of poverty. They built themselves up through exports and incredibly hard work until they became rich enough to start consuming themselves.

heresie-dabord 3y ago

> the incentives to participate in ordered society are diminishing [...] I just don't see the benefits anymore I don't know where you live, of course. But you seem to be in despair. If I may suggest that you reflect further or talk with someone, your view of society is clearly not true. There continue to be significant benefits to participating in ordered society. And this, for the vast majority of humanity.

ericd 3y ago

Human conflict is the most immediate danger from climate change, as tensions rise. We can kill ourselves a lot faster than the climate has any hope of doing it for us. So maybe don’t exacerbate that?