Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
201–210 of 835 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I have something to learn, but what load-bearing social foundation would public pajama-wearing endanger?
Respect for other people, general social norms, polite behavior, personal dignity, and in general just a respect for one's appearance and a desire to make "civilization" aesthetically appealing. People seem to enjoy living in beautiful buildings with green parks nearby, without pollution or noise, and yet somehow think dressing like a slob or putting zero effort into one's appearance is unimportant. To be honest, if…
I am someone who, for much of the last 15 years has been happiest in a t shirt and shorts.
But your points are ones I’ve thought about a LOT the last few years.
In spite of being someone who rejects the idea of dressing fancier going deeper than just superficial beauty, I remember how I carry myself differently when I wear a suit. I feel more confident when I dress well. My wife loves when she sees that I made the effort and I love it when she has (as she often does).
I also remember a friend telling me that the way people dress often also reflects their self esteem. And I know I dress worse when I’m feeling worse.
These things matter. And I do think the general drop in quality of how people dress is a more visual sign of how we care less about each other.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#203> Anyone else have other examples? Elected president who is so crass and generally offensive he wouldn't have gotten close to being elected 50 years ago. Elected president who is showing clear signs of age related cognitive decline (so they say) but continues to occupy the office. Elected presidents with criminal behaviour that is far worse than what previous presidents were impeached or resigned for. Mental illness,…
Yeah the stock trading in congress is another one for your list. I sometimes feel like America is the most corrupt country I've ever encountered. it's not overt like "Pay me $50 and you can avoid a ticket" but it's pernicious and wide spread. - Law makers trade on what they're going to vote prior to voting it - charging people a different price for the exact same procedure, at the same location, under the same market…
Yeah America has largely avoided the little corruptions like the cops shaking you down for money, but we've got massive amounts of large corruption instead. Although the way that corporations are looking for any kind of new parasitic revenue stream they can find (flip around displays with tip amounts growing everywhere) are sort of a kinder, gentler style of little corruptions.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#204A lot of this is related to inequality, value of labour detaching from wealth, and the increasing unaffordability of life.
The material conditions of regular people are continuously getting worse as more and more of their income is stripped away by rent seeking oligopolies, mainly increasing housing costs but depending on your jurisdiction all sorts of other costs (eg. cable and mobile phone costs an issue in some places, healthcare in other places).
In the worst extremes people are simply running out of money and the amount of people at risk of homelessness and in homelessness is spiking, and people in such dire conditions are dying at a remarkable rate given the toxic drug crisis.
For the political class, not a problem here, as they are part of the rent seeking class, and they can expect a nice directorship gig at some oligopoly corporation after their term.
The big fix for much of this is fundamentally to put more money in the wallets of regular people. This means increasing rental vacancy, limiting rent increases, and bringing rents down to 30% of people's income (or less!). It means livable incomes and government stepping in to create a social safety net to ensure that those incomes aren't flowing away immediately to pay for the basics of staying healthy.
It means breaking up corporations and reigning them in and stopping rent seeking.
All of this harms the very wealthy and even the upper middle class, who themselves are often small time landlords that benefit from low rents and renter misery, so these politically active groups block all change.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#205> People are noisy as fuck and dont seem to give a shit. Seems like every night there's someone with loud as exhaust on "sportish" car ripping around the neihborhood. For months this guy would start up his loud car at 7am and no one care when I complained. > Police seem to not give a shit anymore. I've noticed what seems to be total lawlessness going on in my world. Folks stealing shit. People driving absurdly danger…
Pajama pants are just decorative scrubs. Medical people go out in those all the time. You’re welcome to wear your denim scrubs as well.
While this is neither here nor there wearing scrubs out is a relatively new phenomenon. In fact, even wearing them around the hospital is pretty new too. They started as something you changed into when needed and then changed out of when the procedure was over.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
I try not to argue with strangers much on the internet, but I really disagree with you on this one. What someone wears is a part of their self-expression. In this post, you use the phrases "respect for one's appearance" and "care about [one's] appearance" to suggest that people have a responsibility to follow certain norms in how they dress in order to make "'civilization' aesthetically appealing," in your words. Aes…
Some people think that aesthetics is entirely subjective. This is the default view of Western liberal democracies, especially among people that haven’t really thought much about the topic. Some people, including a lot of philosophers and art theorists that can be considered “experts”, disagree. I would consider myself in this camp, although not a credentialed expert by any means. And no, I’m not “projecting my aesthe…
How do you know what the objectively correct attire is and how did you measure it? And if you don’t know what it is then why would you say pyjamas aren’t it? Norms and expectations have varied wildly not just geographically in the present day but over time as well. To the point it was and actually is common to physically harm people.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#207I'm afraid this will happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYD0qLY1orU
before things get better.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some people think that aesthetics is entirely subjective. This is the default view of Western liberal democracies, especially among people that haven’t really thought much about the topic. Some people, including a lot of philosophers and art theorists that can be considered “experts”, disagree. I would consider myself in this camp, although not a credentialed expert by any means. And no, I’m not “projecting my aesthe…
How do you know what the objectively correct attire is and how did you measure it? And if you don’t know what it is then why would you say pyjamas aren’t it? Norms and expectations have varied wildly not just geographically in the present day but over time as well. To the point it was and actually is common to physically harm people.
Just because multiple scales of value exist does not imply that all scales are equal or meaningless entirely.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#209Yeah, the world goes through cycles of sucking. It's not all one problem. It's just a bunch of problems piling on at the same time over the last few years. Most of it boils down to economics.
You can still be yourself and make the world a better place for others. Just because some people have problems doesn't mean you have to emulate their bad behavior. The golden rule still applies and lots of people are still looking out for each other. If you run into problems, get involved with your community to try to solve them.
Instead of focusing on all of the external problems around you, focus on how you're processing them. It's okay to get therapy if it seems like overload. It's also okay to just not do anything for a weekend so you can de-stress and relax.
Try tuning out from all of the noise for a little bit. There's probably some internet/news withdrawal at first but after you stop worrying about everything, it's easier to see what's directly affecting you.
Prioritize fun stuff like finding a good book and making some tea. Go hang out with friends and have an adventure. Be unproductive for a while. Do weird things. Take an art class or find a community group. Life is happier when you're in a positive community and having fun. Most people are still good.
Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?
#210> People are noisy as fuck and dont seem to give a shit. Seems like every night there's someone with loud as exhaust on "sportish" car ripping around the neihborhood. For months this guy would start up his loud car at 7am and no one care when I complained. > Police seem to not give a shit anymore. I've noticed what seems to be total lawlessness going on in my world. Folks stealing shit. People driving absurdly danger…
>being a grown-ass adult in pajamas out in public I'm with you about all the other things but people wearing whatever clothes they want to affects you in literally no way shape or form.
Dress how you want in your own house. The public space isn't yours and you don't have a right to dress indecently in the public space. Turns out, some of us want to live in a society that takes itself seriously and gives a shit. Walking around in your Cookie Monster PJs just doesn't cut it.
THIS mindset is what I think is the root of all the other listed problems. Somehow freedom has come to mean "I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't cause you physical injury" - completely throwing the ideals of common decency, mutual respect, obligation to your community, etc out the window.
We're not atomized individuals with nothing to do with each other except transact for individual gain. If we want to be a community with a unified social fabric, we have to act like it, and that means putting aside some "freedoms" that make the commons worse for everyone.