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Resilience requires helping each other out

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Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#51

Post by DoreenMichele »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #50
DoreenMichele wrote: post #19

Before we reliably had money, we had barter and "mutual aid." Now, some people think you just pay for stuff with money and if someone is "nice" to you, you don't "owe" them anything. A lot of people no longer seem to understand the implicit social contract behind such interactions and it can go bad places. From religion to community development work to politics, there have been myriad attempts to educate people that…

It's a complex topic, but it's important to recognize that, to a large extent, > you just pay for stuff with money and if someone is "nice" to you, you don't "owe" them anything is kind of the whole point of money . More specifically, it allows you to trade with random strangers, without having to first develop and afterwards maintain social relationships with them. It's what, for better or worse, let humanity form g…

Yes, it is a complex topic and one that disproportionately impacts some demographics. It is related to the phenomenon of unpaid internships where getting your foot in the door requires you to be able to work for free for a substantial period of time. This has been criticized as a form of gatekeeping because young adults from already prosperous families can comfortably do this and people from the lower classes cannot.

Upper class society seems to still honor those implicit social contracts, but only if you are already part of the in crowd and your disfavor could come back to bite them.

If you are poor, my firsthand experience suggests most people are all too happy to take advantage of you and then not let you walk away. That worked for them, they want more and at the same price: free.

Money is a wonderful thing but there is no excusing a common phenomenon of well-heeled individuals knowingly preying upon lower classes for what often amounts to free therapy and other free services with zero plans to in any way return the favor.

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#52

Post by Teever »

landemva wrote: post #33
DoreenMichele wrote: post #19

Before we reliably had money, we had barter and "mutual aid." Now, some people think you just pay for stuff with money and if someone is "nice" to you, you don't "owe" them anything. A lot of people no longer seem to understand the implicit social contract behind such interactions and it can go bad places. From religion to community development work to politics, there have been myriad attempts to educate people that…

Yet Americans vote for religion of government that preaches we will be taken care of by continuous deficit spending. Deficit spending of money/value created out of thin air will eventually reach a mathematical point of no return. Maybe USA is already at that point, and now we wait for the judgement day when money no longer has purchasing power.

Deficit spending doesn't make matter out of thin air. The things that are bought on credit are real, tangible things that exist.

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#53

Post by sfink »

hosh wrote: post #46
23B1 wrote: post #36

This is why I tell everyone who'll listen that if you want to prep for a disaster, step 0 is to hold a block party. Most people don't even know their neighbor's names!

There was a HN thread about this within the past three months. Sit outside regularly at the front yard and just start waving hi to everyone.

Get a dog. Walk it.

Worked for me.

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#54

Post by its_ethan »

em-bee wrote: post #29
varjag wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an improperly low level of abstraction to the problem, akin to "we're all made of atoms". True and useless.

on the contrary, everyone of us needs to realize that we are part of a global community and that all of our actions accumulate to have an effect across the world. so instead of saying that this will never work because we are to diverse, instead we need to strive and MAKE IT WORK! put aside our differences, find common ground and build a global cooperative community that includes every human being on this planet.

Did a milquetoast motivation speaker write this? "Everyone just needs to realize that we all have to be nice to each other and we all succeed" rarely even works in a kindergarten classroom of 15 students, there's not really even a system for scaling that up to a city of a million people.

Imo it's naive to think that this is ever achievable given how powerful the human nature to find an in-group is.

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#55

Post by jamiek88 »

sfink wrote: post #53
hosh wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a HN thread about this within the past three months. Sit outside regularly at the front yard and just start waving hi to everyone.

Get a dog. Walk it. Worked for me.

Yes. This is key. Especially if like me your dog is ancient, has ALS and is in a stroller!

Everybody knows me as the 6’3 270lb dude pushing a tiny stroller or ‘spankys dad’!

I’d moved to coastal Oregon, knew no one in the neighborhood, I’m kinda scary to look at and not good at eye contact!

Since I adopted this stinky, on his last legs, probably gonna die in a year old pug mix I’ve spent a fortune at the vets but made many acquaintances some of whom are on the way to being friends.

Make a conscious effort to remember peoples names as you do it. I used to be very blasé about that but it made a big difference shouting ‘hey Sue!’ to the old lady who makes Spanky treats on the corner.

It would also work for a cat.

Everyone remembers the dude walking a cat!

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#56

Post by em-bee »

its_ethan wrote: post #54
em-bee wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

on the contrary, everyone of us needs to realize that we are part of a global community and that all of our actions accumulate to have an effect across the world. so instead of saying that this will never work because we are to diverse, instead we need to strive and MAKE IT WORK! put aside our differences, find common ground and build a global cooperative community that includes every human being on this planet.

Did a milquetoast motivation speaker write this? "Everyone just needs to realize that we all have to be nice to each other and we all succeed" rarely even works in a kindergarten classroom of 15 students, there's not really even a system for scaling that up to a city of a million people. Imo it's naive to think that this is ever achievable given how powerful the human nature to find an in-group is.

i didn't say "just", because it's not that simple. it obviously takes effort and rethinking of our life and our purpose. but doing that, and showing others how and why to do that is how i live my life. and i am not the only one. slowly more people are picking up and are spreading the idea. it may take a few generations before a critical mass is reached, but i am confident that we can convince the world that global cooperation and unity is necessary for our future.

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#58

Post by NovaDudely »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #57
23B1 wrote: post #36

This is why I tell everyone who'll listen that if you want to prep for a disaster, step 0 is to hold a block party. Most people don't even know their neighbor's names!

Build Communities not Bunkers

Yes, yes, YES! I think you just summarized Douglas Rushkoff's last book in 4 words.

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#59

Post by steve_adams_86 »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #57
23B1 wrote: post #36

This is why I tell everyone who'll listen that if you want to prep for a disaster, step 0 is to hold a block party. Most people don't even know their neighbor's names!

Build Communities not Bunkers

I believe this is critical for well-being even if there are no disasters coming.

Re: Resilience requires helping each other out

#60

Post by landemva »

Teever wrote: post #52
landemva wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet Americans vote for religion of government that preaches we will be taken care of by continuous deficit spending. Deficit spending of money/value created out of thin air will eventually reach a mathematical point of no return. Maybe USA is already at that point, and now we wait for the judgement day when money no longer has purchasing power.

Deficit spending doesn't make matter out of thin air. The things that are bought on credit are real, tangible things that exist.

USA munitions, which were bought on credit deficit spending, are really being exploded in Ukraine. Financed by USA tax payers and future tax payers. Yes, this is real physical destruction overseas, monetary destruction of US dollar, and GDP number goes up for the headline news shows.
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