I’m not arguing that America isn’t in dire straits at the moment, but the concept of having to work so hard to live you don’t don’t ever get to enjoy life is ancient and global. It’s a sad state of affairs.
I don’t think it is, really. Every weathiest nation in history got their wealth by taking it from others, from within and without. America is the latest symptomatic patient of a disease that’s been around a long time.
Only if you completely ignore all context and recent history, and the fact that many nations does not have all of the issues which the US has, but has actually figured out some solutions to some of the problems.
Meanwhile the US seems more adamant than ever to make life insufferable for most of its citizens. The point being that the US is indeed very special in its failure to learn from others, despite having more wealth than anybody else.
The “it has always been like this everywhere in the entirety of human history” is a pretty useless and false statement in this context.
That’s not what I said. In the US, like in every “wealthiest nation on earth” to date, there are and have always been those who do not get to share in the wealth, at least not enough that they can afford to not work to death. I don’t know of any time or place in human history where the poorest of the community don’t meet this condition, and in that way the US is not special. It is also not special in succumbing to rising wealth inequality, as the wealthy use their power to circumvent laws, self-deal, and extract wealth from the earth and their fellow humans with increasing efficiency. That shit happens all the time.
The US has a few special circumstances which make it feel different: one, it’s happening now and not in history books, two, it’s larger (in economic hegemony) than any empire in recorded history, and three, the middle class (i.e. people who were not rich but did not have to work literally their whole lives) are currently being demoted to being mandatory-perpetual-labor poor, which for many of them means they are becoming aware of the problem for the first time in their lives.
The fact that this shit has been going on forever doesn’t make it less dire, but it doesn’t mean the US is special in this regard, or that it hasn’t been happening for the whole of US history or human history. It’s just more salient to more Americans now compared to, say, two or three decades ago.
I still talk about how much better things could get. I’m very excited about photovoltaics and new energy storage methods. If we play our cards right, the history books could describe the USA as the last great fossil fuel empire. Maybe, if things go really well: the last global empire. That’d be pretty cool. Unfortunately, to extend the metaphor, we’re still at the table and our cards are pretty weak at the moment, and plenty of other players still have imperial ambitions, so we still gotta keep our heads in the game.
It’s just rough to be living through an important period in history. My head is so in the game, but I never feel like I’m the one the dealer is talking to.
even the ones that earn quite a liviable income are some of the sourest people attitude wise. the only one that enjoys all these hobbies it is the one that can live off(mooch) the family or SO forever and free to do anything else(one that refuses to find a job), other than well off or rich people.
I’m not arguing that America isn’t in dire straits at the moment, but the concept of having to work so hard to live you don’t don’t ever get to enjoy life is ancient and global. It’s a sad state of affairs.
Yes, but the fact that it is happening in a country which contains the most wealth any nation has ever had in recorded history is quite special.
I don’t think it is, really. Every weathiest nation in history got their wealth by taking it from others, from within and without. America is the latest symptomatic patient of a disease that’s been around a long time.
Only if you completely ignore all context and recent history, and the fact that many nations does not have all of the issues which the US has, but has actually figured out some solutions to some of the problems.
Meanwhile the US seems more adamant than ever to make life insufferable for most of its citizens. The point being that the US is indeed very special in its failure to learn from others, despite having more wealth than anybody else.
The “it has always been like this everywhere in the entirety of human history” is a pretty useless and false statement in this context.
That’s not what I said. In the US, like in every “wealthiest nation on earth” to date, there are and have always been those who do not get to share in the wealth, at least not enough that they can afford to not work to death. I don’t know of any time or place in human history where the poorest of the community don’t meet this condition, and in that way the US is not special. It is also not special in succumbing to rising wealth inequality, as the wealthy use their power to circumvent laws, self-deal, and extract wealth from the earth and their fellow humans with increasing efficiency. That shit happens all the time.
The US has a few special circumstances which make it feel different: one, it’s happening now and not in history books, two, it’s larger (in economic hegemony) than any empire in recorded history, and three, the middle class (i.e. people who were not rich but did not have to work literally their whole lives) are currently being demoted to being mandatory-perpetual-labor poor, which for many of them means they are becoming aware of the problem for the first time in their lives.
The fact that this shit has been going on forever doesn’t make it less dire, but it doesn’t mean the US is special in this regard, or that it hasn’t been happening for the whole of US history or human history. It’s just more salient to more Americans now compared to, say, two or three decades ago.
We used to talk about the future in terms of how much better things could get. Now we talk about it in terms of reversion to the mean.
I still talk about how much better things could get. I’m very excited about photovoltaics and new energy storage methods. If we play our cards right, the history books could describe the USA as the last great fossil fuel empire. Maybe, if things go really well: the last global empire. That’d be pretty cool. Unfortunately, to extend the metaphor, we’re still at the table and our cards are pretty weak at the moment, and plenty of other players still have imperial ambitions, so we still gotta keep our heads in the game.
It’s just rough to be living through an important period in history. My head is so in the game, but I never feel like I’m the one the dealer is talking to.
even the ones that earn quite a liviable income are some of the sourest people attitude wise. the only one that enjoys all these hobbies it is the one that can live off(mooch) the family or SO forever and free to do anything else(one that refuses to find a job), other than well off or rich people.
The problem is we’re the wealthiest nation in the history of the world.
This no longer holds up.