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Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

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Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#151

Earlier 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…

Wanna play 5 Whys with it?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#153

Earlier 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…

> if you don't find this obviously true

Not the one you're replying to... Not only I don't find this obviously true, but also I find it obviously wrong. I prefer people stop being offended by how others look and stop judging people by their looks. I consider such attitude very shallow.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#154

I really believe that this is what happens when you go so long without a substantial recession coupled with an easy money regime. There's apathy because no one has been scared in a long time. Landlords haven't been scared of not finding renters and not being able to pay their mortgages. Workers haven't been really scared of not finding jobs. Businesses have not really been scared of not being able to raise money. Awf…

Sure, but it also sounds like OP stopped being grateful. You know, for the little things, like having plentiful food to eat, a roof above your head, being warm in winter, etc. If you read this tirade to 99% of the world population they will laugh in your face. Complaining about not getting enough ketchup with your takeaway, a rental application fee or being tailgated is being privileged.

That's an absurd comparison. If your reality is becoming worse, telling yourself that you should be grateful just because your reality is still better than some random person thousands of miles away doesn't help. Especially if you have no real power to change that other person's reality, BUT have power and a voice to change your reality.

By this logic, no one should ever complain or try to change anything. Because surely, someone, somewhere, has it worse. Got cancer? Well, someone somewhere has cancer AND a two broken legs.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#155
The digital world has advanced ; the physical world was left behind. We did not adapt. We placed hurdles regulation and rentseeking traps in anything but the digital.

The root of this is in demographics of course. Different generations focus on different kinds of wealth and will defend it till the end of their lives. In democracy, it becomes a numbers game

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#157

You should strongly consider seeing a therapist, in all honesty. Read some books on mindfulness, consider putting the phone down and staying away from news headlines for a while.

Despite you getting downvoted, I appreciate your input.

I do understand how this might help the observer, but it also feels a bit like just look away and act like the problems aren't there.

Like we call could meditate for 30 mins a day and feel better about a shitty existence. Or we could spend 30 minutes a day (billions of man hours) doing something about it?

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#158

Read Karl Marx, what we're seeing is basically what he described as the end state of capitalism. Everything gets shittier and shittier as costs go up and profits shrink. People and businesses are getting more desperate to prop up profit or make a buck. Everything suffers--worse products as costs are cut, worse service as wages stagnate to cut costs, people are more angry and stressed as their standard of living decli…

That's somewhat of a misrepresentation of what Marx wrote.

When Marx lived in 19th century England, he saw first hand the effects of laissez faire capitalism: workers working themselves to death, workers dying by the score in industrial accidents, children working and dying in mines, etc.

He predicted with certainty that this trend would continue and lead to a revolution of the many (workers) against the few (capitalists), after which the world would become a classless society free from oppression and exploitation.

Except that never happened.

Workers gained many rights, like limits on work-hours, social insurance, free education for their children (who were banned from working dangerous jobs). Most governments creates successful interventionist policy that "de-fanged" the worst parts of capitalism. I would venture a guess that 19th century workers would kill to live or at least send their children into the 21st century. I presume even terrible jobs today would look positively heavenly for someone who was forced to inhale coal dust and destroy his body for 18 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Marx's "theory" was proven wrong by the events that took place since his times. Nothing he predicted came true. This even became apparent during the 19th century, when pro-worker reforms were being introduced in Britain, which caused Engels, Marx's sponsor, to first explain this away by pointing out that Britain's riches originate from its colonies, making Britain "the burguoise of the world", and then blame Britain itself for not going along with his and Marx's grand theory: "It seems that this most bourgeois of all nations wants to bring matters to such a pass as to have a bourgeois aristocracy and a bourgeois proletariat side by side with the bourgeoisie."

(I can almost hear him getting more and more upset at the unruly masses who, instead of misery, revolution, and utopia, chose reforms and democracy).

It must be said, at least, that Marx was coming from a place of good. His heart went out to the suffering masses he lived amongst. His writings are full of compassion. But we must be fair and accept that he was wrong in his theories and predictions.

Now, because I know this will come up, as it's a popular doomer trope: there is suffering in the world. Children sew tshirts in 3rd world sweatshops. Factory workers jump from roofs working for Apple, the world's most valuable company. Numberless people live lives of quiet desperation. Without a doubt, all of that is true.

But, comparing the world of Mar'x lifetime and the world of today, it would take some hardcore rhetorical maneuvering to ignore the fact that more people than ever before live comfortable, safe lives with plentiful opportunities for self-actualization.

This can be interpreted in many ways. For our discussion, I want it to serve as evidence that we shouldn't give Marx's writing more credibility than they deserve.

Personally, I chose to interpret it in a way that means that we're simply not done yet. We've made great progress. But our work is far from done--there are still many humans out there that enjoy the most meager fruits of this progress. This must be remedied.

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#159
post #67

> 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.

I disagree with this. People - at not just Walmart - with brown stains on the rear, or pajamas that don't cover their butt. :x

Re: Ask HN: Why Is Everything Declining?

#160

I didn't read the whole thing because the answer is simple. The fall of the Berlin Wall was not the end of the Cold War and the paranoia, distrust and apathy you sense now are the culminations of Russia's Eastern German techniques to the West. We have been in an almost entirely psychological war since 1991. The decline of the West was primarily due to the fact we had a high trust society that foreigners from Europe t…

tell me more please.
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