5 ms·

Amanda's work is proof that personal engagement makes a difference, but scaling that kind of approach is incredibly difficult

dsign 2y ago
Indeed. But I have another point of view: what if our society is utterly broken? To see what I mean, imagine a world where that level of effort would cure any disease, even aging. How would that split us?
- altacc 2y ago
  Society is far from perfect and some are definitely leaning more towards broken than perfect. I don't know how many people really see themselves as part of society vs individuals living among other unconnected individuals. Homelessness, poor physical or mental health, crime, domestic violence, discrimination. There's a long list of social ills that get worse when a society is inequitable and unequal. These problems and their effects go down significantly when a society acts to maintain its own health and distribution of resources is more equal, there is social mobility, individuals are under less financial stress, etc... Number will never go to zero or even close but there are countries where the base homelessness rate is similar to the US but the manifestation of problem is very different as is the approach, mostly that being homeless isn't considered criminal. e.g. very few people sleep rough, their homelessness period is shorter and living in cars is not normal. Just that last fact, that living in cars is relatively common and that includes children, makes me look at the US and decide that yes, US society is broken.
- jmcgough 2y ago
  The biggest problem with our society is that no one knows or helps their neighbors anymore. I work in the emergency department and maybe a third of the patients are more in need of a good support system than medical treatment. Met a guy whose elderly wife isn't strong enough to lift him when he falls out of bed, so once a week they call EMS or the fire department to get him back in bed. So many things that you used to call on your neighbors for help with, but life for many Americans in 2025 is isolating and lonely.
  - nosianu 2y ago
    Did that ever work, except maybe in tribal societies? Anything I read about middle ages or later was even worse. At best, they put such people into poorhouses. A big family under one roof helped the best I guess? But in any less ideal situations I doubt even the children would have gone out of their way to devote their lives to the care of the elderly or the disabled. Examples from primitive societies: https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/article/113384 https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/article/113384
    - dsign 2y ago
      > Did that ever work, except maybe in tribal societies? Maybe I don't understand your comment, but I think our societies were/are tighter in many places and epochs. Maybe it's not so in cities and suburbs in the modern West, but, I think it used to be different in Medieval Europe and before, in villages at least. Neighbors were your support community. I know there are parts of the world where it's still the case. I'm not that old and I was raised by my neighbors, because both of my parents were working. When my dad was dying last year, I couldn't be there because I was their only economic support, working abroad, and I don't have any wealth to be so if I'm not working. There was more family, but the neighbors were the ones day to day helping my mom with shores and the care of my dad. >> But in any less ideal situations I doubt even the children would have gone out of their way to devote their lives to the care of the elderly or the disabled. It was the children, in most sane cases. Not that I argue it's a good thing to bring children to the world to take care of you when you are dying.
      - markus_zhang 2y ago
        Capitalism makes us more atomic, not a surprise.
        rmah 2y ago
        It's not capitalism, per se. It's a society that overvalues individualism and devalues family. IMO, of course. One part of the social compact used to be that in return for parents taking care of you as a child, you took care of them when they were old. It worked for literally 1000's of generations.
- tmpz22 2y ago
  Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. This isn’t an unprofitable codebase at some VC funded atrocity where consequences don’t exist. This is the real world where societal structures save hundreds of millions every year. The amount of suffering that would exist if society dissolved is unfathomable.
throwawaymaths 2y ago
what happened to "do things that don't scale"?
- bagels 2y ago
  We're missing all the rest of the steps, but besides, I'm not sure how that applies when there's no profit motive.
  - throwawaymaths 2y ago
    charity: water
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

dsign 2y ago

Indeed. But I have another point of view: what if our society is utterly broken? To see what I mean, imagine a world where that level of effort would cure any disease, even aging. How would that split us?

altacc 2y ago
Society is far from perfect and some are definitely leaning more towards broken than perfect. I don't know how many people really see themselves as part of society vs individuals living among other unconnected individuals. Homelessness, poor physical or mental health, crime, domestic violence, discrimination. There's a long list of social ills that get worse when a society is inequitable and unequal. These problems and their effects go down significantly when a society acts to maintain its own health and distribution of resources is more equal, there is social mobility, individuals are under less financial stress, etc... Number will never go to zero or even close but there are countries where the base homelessness rate is similar to the US but the manifestation of problem is very different as is the approach, mostly that being homeless isn't considered criminal. e.g. very few people sleep rough, their homelessness period is shorter and living in cars is not normal. Just that last fact, that living in cars is relatively common and that includes children, makes me look at the US and decide that yes, US society is broken.
jmcgough 2y ago
The biggest problem with our society is that no one knows or helps their neighbors anymore. I work in the emergency department and maybe a third of the patients are more in need of a good support system than medical treatment. Met a guy whose elderly wife isn't strong enough to lift him when he falls out of bed, so once a week they call EMS or the fire department to get him back in bed. So many things that you used to call on your neighbors for help with, but life for many Americans in 2025 is isolating and lonely.
- nosianu 2y ago
  Did that ever work, except maybe in tribal societies? Anything I read about middle ages or later was even worse. At best, they put such people into poorhouses. A big family under one roof helped the best I guess? But in any less ideal situations I doubt even the children would have gone out of their way to devote their lives to the care of the elderly or the disabled. Examples from primitive societies: https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/article/113384 https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/article/113384
  - dsign 2y ago
    > Did that ever work, except maybe in tribal societies? Maybe I don't understand your comment, but I think our societies were/are tighter in many places and epochs. Maybe it's not so in cities and suburbs in the modern West, but, I think it used to be different in Medieval Europe and before, in villages at least. Neighbors were your support community. I know there are parts of the world where it's still the case. I'm not that old and I was raised by my neighbors, because both of my parents were working. When my dad was dying last year, I couldn't be there because I was their only economic support, working abroad, and I don't have any wealth to be so if I'm not working. There was more family, but the neighbors were the ones day to day helping my mom with shores and the care of my dad. >> But in any less ideal situations I doubt even the children would have gone out of their way to devote their lives to the care of the elderly or the disabled. It was the children, in most sane cases. Not that I argue it's a good thing to bring children to the world to take care of you when you are dying.
    - markus_zhang 2y ago
      Capitalism makes us more atomic, not a surprise.
      - rmah 2y ago
        It's not capitalism, per se. It's a society that overvalues individualism and devalues family. IMO, of course. One part of the social compact used to be that in return for parents taking care of you as a child, you took care of them when they were old. It worked for literally 1000's of generations.
tmpz22 2y ago
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. This isn’t an unprofitable codebase at some VC funded atrocity where consequences don’t exist. This is the real world where societal structures save hundreds of millions every year. The amount of suffering that would exist if society dissolved is unfathomable.

throwawaymaths 2y ago

what happened to "do things that don't scale"?

bagels 2y ago
We're missing all the rest of the steps, but besides, I'm not sure how that applies when there's no profit motive.
- throwawaymaths 2y ago
  charity: water
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]