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This is what shielded first world upper class tell themselves to not feel guilty, and at the same time to make sure that no actual change threatening the status

This is what shielded first world upper class tell themselves to not feel guilty, and at the same time to make sure that no actual change threatening the status quo that keeps them well fed happens too fast. You never hear someone struggling to pay rent or to buy groceries tell you "God bless we have it so much better than 150 years ago". Guess why?

bryanlarsen 3y ago
People who believe that the world is doomed no matter what don't spend any effort making the world better. People who believe the world is great as it is don't spend any effort making the world better. Only people who believe that the world should be better, AND that it is possible to make it better expend effort to make it better.
- pastacacioepepe 3y ago
  > Only people who believe that the world should be better, AND that it is possible to make it better expend effort to make it better. I agree, but saying the world is much better than in the past while it still has all the same basic problems (wars, hunger, preventable diseases, poverty, exploitation, etc) sounds to me just like privileged people patting themselves in the back. In the meantime, children die under bombs and starving.
  - bryanlarsen 3y ago
    It sounds like you read a different article than I did. The first line of the article: "The world is awful". Does that sound like people patting themselves on the back?
- trgn 3y ago
  tangential to your point, and this seems trite, but the hippies were right after all. People need to imagine again. The ability to see a thing, in your minds eye, from all angles, without it having to be fully formed, without it having to be realized. Once you can imagine again, the future looks bright.
  - kelseyfrog 3y ago
    Pay close attention to the guardrails of imagination. If you imagine too hard, you'll get push back in the form of, "every time we've tried something different, it's been a disaster." Beyond not having an imagination, there are those out there that seek to actively quell imagination. It's literally beyond their reality.
AlwaysRock 3y ago
But there has been significant change in the status quo in the last 150 years... Having electricity in ones house wasnt even common until the 1890s. Racism was common, if not the default.
- account42 3y ago
  > Having electricity in ones house wasnt even common until the 1890s. Does that make a better lifer? Maybe maybe not. Life is about more than what toys you have. There are many negatives about modern life that we didn't have and pointing at how much tech crap you can now afford does not offset that. > Racism was common, if not the default. It still is, just not always targeted at the same people.
slimrec77 3y ago
[flagged]
- pastacacioepepe 3y ago
  > you are so obviously projecting the upper class life you have lived. Typical shithead. I've never had an upper class life, quite the opposite. What's a shithead? You mean someone privileged like you are now? > You know what feels amazing? Having no clue how to pay the rent and then you figure out a way to pay it. LOL if it feels amazing why don't you donate most of what you got and go back to worrying about the rent? No? You clearly have never struggled financially. I still have anxiety about making it to the end of the month even now that I don't need to worry about it. It absolutely sucks and makes all your life worse. I've never heard anyone who's actually struggled spout the nonsense you have.
  - the_only_law 3y ago
    > I've never had an upper class life, quite the opposite. What's a shithead? You mean someone privileged like you are now? Notice how they always accuse others of what they themselves are.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

People who believe that the world is doomed no matter what don't spend any effort making the world better. People who believe the world is great as it is don't spend any effort making the world better. Only people who believe that the world should be better, AND that it is possible to make it better expend effort to make it better.

pastacacioepepe 3y ago
> Only people who believe that the world should be better, AND that it is possible to make it better expend effort to make it better. I agree, but saying the world is much better than in the past while it still has all the same basic problems (wars, hunger, preventable diseases, poverty, exploitation, etc) sounds to me just like privileged people patting themselves in the back. In the meantime, children die under bombs and starving.
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  It sounds like you read a different article than I did. The first line of the article: "The world is awful". Does that sound like people patting themselves on the back?
trgn 3y ago
tangential to your point, and this seems trite, but the hippies were right after all. People need to imagine again. The ability to see a thing, in your minds eye, from all angles, without it having to be fully formed, without it having to be realized. Once you can imagine again, the future looks bright.
- kelseyfrog 3y ago
  Pay close attention to the guardrails of imagination. If you imagine too hard, you'll get push back in the form of, "every time we've tried something different, it's been a disaster." Beyond not having an imagination, there are those out there that seek to actively quell imagination. It's literally beyond their reality.

AlwaysRock 3y ago

But there has been significant change in the status quo in the last 150 years... Having electricity in ones house wasnt even common until the 1890s. Racism was common, if not the default.

account42 3y ago
> Having electricity in ones house wasnt even common until the 1890s. Does that make a better lifer? Maybe maybe not. Life is about more than what toys you have. There are many negatives about modern life that we didn't have and pointing at how much tech crap you can now afford does not offset that. > Racism was common, if not the default. It still is, just not always targeted at the same people.

slimrec77 3y ago

[flagged]

pastacacioepepe 3y ago
> you are so obviously projecting the upper class life you have lived. Typical shithead. I've never had an upper class life, quite the opposite. What's a shithead? You mean someone privileged like you are now? > You know what feels amazing? Having no clue how to pay the rent and then you figure out a way to pay it. LOL if it feels amazing why don't you donate most of what you got and go back to worrying about the rent? No? You clearly have never struggled financially. I still have anxiety about making it to the end of the month even now that I don't need to worry about it. It absolutely sucks and makes all your life worse. I've never heard anyone who's actually struggled spout the nonsense you have.
- the_only_law 3y ago
  > I've never had an upper class life, quite the opposite. What's a shithead? You mean someone privileged like you are now? Notice how they always accuse others of what they themselves are.