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Could it maybe be related to spending most of one's life working, with the only reward being just enough resources to keep working another day, and the majority

Could it maybe be related to spending most of one's life working, with the only reward being just enough resources to keep working another day, and the majority of the productive output getting used for regime change wars, questionable science experiments, and entertainment for the 0.00001%?

Euphorbium 2y ago
Nah, it is phones and videogames. /s
- astrange 2y ago
  It probably is the phones, no need to /s. That and too much online school.
deleted 2y ago
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jrockway 2y ago
I don't think that this is the root of depression. A lot of people get a lot of joy from working, and aren't that sad about having just barely enough resources to keep living another day. A lot of people even aspire to entertain the 0.00001%; thinking about it makes them happier. As a data point, I feel like this. I'm excited about going to work on Tuesday. I'm also excited about not going to work tomorrow. There is a lot of pain and suffering in the world. Watching the 2024 campaign unfold is maddening and scary. But I still look forward to every day. I think depression is something different than merely realizing that society has a lot it needs to work on. That's just my perspective, though, and there are many others; all equally valid.
moffkalast 2y ago
There's definitely physiological and psychological kinds of depression, just as with of addiction. Like a kid that's playing way too much <insert popular game here> having their parents take it away might make them annoyed and irate for a while, but they ultimately won't be worse for wear. Meanwhile take drinks away from an alcoholic and they will literally die from withdrawal symptoms. As such you also have the natural kind of depression that's being caused by outside circumstances which is solvable by altering them. Then you have the type where the brain gets stuck in that same state constantly because of some internal chemical imbalance which can't be resolved without medication.
AdamH12113 2y ago
You have just described the lives of most humans for all of recorded history. Seriously -- not being sarcastic. Subsistence agriculture does not provide a secure life, and (more recently) neither does working 14-hour days in a factory. And a lot of the surplus wealth produced by that labor went to.... wars and luxury for the wealthy. None of this is new.
astrange 2y ago
No, by far most public spending goes towards welfare for poor and elderly people. Almost everything people believe about "funding wars" is false and comes from believing headlines written to make you angry. (For instance, those are often humanitarian funds, or the other people are paying us, or the bill they're thinking of got vetoed. Spending on the MIC has actually continually gone down over time as % GDP.)

Euphorbium 2y ago

Nah, it is phones and videogames. /s

astrange 2y ago
It probably is the phones, no need to /s. That and too much online school.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

jrockway 2y ago

I don't think that this is the root of depression. A lot of people get a lot of joy from working, and aren't that sad about having just barely enough resources to keep living another day. A lot of people even aspire to entertain the 0.00001%; thinking about it makes them happier. As a data point, I feel like this. I'm excited about going to work on Tuesday. I'm also excited about not going to work tomorrow. There is a lot of pain and suffering in the world. Watching the 2024 campaign unfold is maddening and scary. But I still look forward to every day. I think depression is something different than merely realizing that society has a lot it needs to work on. That's just my perspective, though, and there are many others; all equally valid.

moffkalast 2y ago

There's definitely physiological and psychological kinds of depression, just as with of addiction. Like a kid that's playing way too much <insert popular game here> having their parents take it away might make them annoyed and irate for a while, but they ultimately won't be worse for wear. Meanwhile take drinks away from an alcoholic and they will literally die from withdrawal symptoms. As such you also have the natural kind of depression that's being caused by outside circumstances which is solvable by altering them. Then you have the type where the brain gets stuck in that same state constantly because of some internal chemical imbalance which can't be resolved without medication.

AdamH12113 2y ago

You have just described the lives of most humans for all of recorded history. Seriously -- not being sarcastic. Subsistence agriculture does not provide a secure life, and (more recently) neither does working 14-hour days in a factory. And a lot of the surplus wealth produced by that labor went to.... wars and luxury for the wealthy. None of this is new.

astrange 2y ago

No, by far most public spending goes towards welfare for poor and elderly people. Almost everything people believe about "funding wars" is false and comes from believing headlines written to make you angry. (For instance, those are often humanitarian funds, or the other people are paying us, or the bill they're thinking of got vetoed. Spending on the MIC has actually continually gone down over time as % GDP.)