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Man, you're sure assuming a lot about me, my life circumstances, and my level of empathy. FWIW, I feel keenly for people who get the rug yanked out from under

Man, you're sure assuming a lot about me, my life circumstances, and my level of empathy. FWIW, I feel keenly for people who get the rug yanked out from under them, even in circumstances when they should have seen it coming, even (usually) when they come across as entitled and patronizing assholes, because fear can do that to you. I admit that my heart grows less tender when people shake their fists at the sky for the cruel turns the world has wrought unto them, without acknowledging the myriad ways they have benefited from the same forces that have given rise to their complaints. Another mitigating factor, as a sibling on this thread remarked, is that I am unaware of this author's poignant appeal on behalf of milkmen, TV repairmen, and gas station attendants, although you are free to correct me on that account.

williamcotton 12y ago
I admit that my heart grows less tender when people shake their fists at the sky for the cruel turns the world has wrought unto them, without acknowledging the myriad ways they have benefited from the same forces that have given rise to their complaints. That's basically the description of callousness. You're rather arrogantly assuming that you're capable of judging wether or not they have benefited from these changes. Economic factors and whiz-bang gadgets might not excite people as much as having a stable core of friends and family around them. I'm sure you've seen studies on how uncorrelated economic indicators and happiness are? I am unaware of this author's poignant appeal on behalf of milkmen, TV repairmen, and gas station attendants Why is that pertinent?
- nl 12y ago
  >> I am unaware of this author's poignant appeal on behalf of milkmen, TV repairmen, and gas station attendants > Why is that pertinent? The author start Amid the bacchanal of disruption, let us pause to honor the disrupted. I think it is reasonable for someone to point out that his "honoring" only seems to apply to (for want of a better term) the "creative classes" as opposed to blue collar workers.
  - williamcotton 12y ago
    So what? It's an essay about philosophy and culture, not fixing TVs. The fact that blue collar workers have been negatively affected by not only the swift advances in technology but also globalization can be addressed in another essay.
- shanusmagnus 12y ago
  You're right, I'm rather callously assuming that this writer, formerly of The New Republic and now The Atlantic, has benefited from advances in health care and medical technology, better and more reliable cars, cheaper and more varieties of food and clothing, international travel, free communication that would have seemed like science fiction a handful of years ago, pervasive access to culture of all kinds in all languages in all media, the ability to participate in labor markets, local and global, that did not exist a decade ago, and video lectures from leading scholars at top universities from all over the world on every conceivable topic available upon request for zero dollars in the convenience of his own home or wherever else he happens to go anywhere on Earth. I don't know how I could have been so thoughtless.
  - ThomPete 12y ago
    You are of course assuming that this is something the writer wanted which might not be the case.

williamcotton 12y ago

I admit that my heart grows less tender when people shake their fists at the sky for the cruel turns the world has wrought unto them, without acknowledging the myriad ways they have benefited from the same forces that have given rise to their complaints. That's basically the description of callousness. You're rather arrogantly assuming that you're capable of judging wether or not they have benefited from these changes. Economic factors and whiz-bang gadgets might not excite people as much as having a stable core of friends and family around them. I'm sure you've seen studies on how uncorrelated economic indicators and happiness are? I am unaware of this author's poignant appeal on behalf of milkmen, TV repairmen, and gas station attendants Why is that pertinent?

nl 12y ago
>> I am unaware of this author's poignant appeal on behalf of milkmen, TV repairmen, and gas station attendants > Why is that pertinent? The author start Amid the bacchanal of disruption, let us pause to honor the disrupted. I think it is reasonable for someone to point out that his "honoring" only seems to apply to (for want of a better term) the "creative classes" as opposed to blue collar workers.
- williamcotton 12y ago
  So what? It's an essay about philosophy and culture, not fixing TVs. The fact that blue collar workers have been negatively affected by not only the swift advances in technology but also globalization can be addressed in another essay.
shanusmagnus 12y ago
You're right, I'm rather callously assuming that this writer, formerly of The New Republic and now The Atlantic, has benefited from advances in health care and medical technology, better and more reliable cars, cheaper and more varieties of food and clothing, international travel, free communication that would have seemed like science fiction a handful of years ago, pervasive access to culture of all kinds in all languages in all media, the ability to participate in labor markets, local and global, that did not exist a decade ago, and video lectures from leading scholars at top universities from all over the world on every conceivable topic available upon request for zero dollars in the convenience of his own home or wherever else he happens to go anywhere on Earth. I don't know how I could have been so thoughtless.
- ThomPete 12y ago
  You are of course assuming that this is something the writer wanted which might not be the case.