this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
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Being a white male doesn't mean you'll coast through it. You still have to put in the effort, otherwise you end up like the guy holding the cardboard sign in the back of the grocery store parking lot near my house in 30 degrees F, and it's not even January yet.
Americans have been getting poorer and poorer for decades, even though it doesn't appear that way due to influx of cheap goods from the far east, but when you look at the cost of American labor, paying for any good or service that earned Americans a living wage, that's when you get a true picture of how far your money goes.
Yes, the average American is doing worse than 50 years ago, but the average person worldwide is doing better than 50 years ago, and the average American is doing better than 100 years ago. This is why it's important to remember 2 things. First, be vigilant, or the improvements we've made can be lost. Second, keep perspective with the big picture, and remember there will be setbacks.
Sure, I get it. Everything zero-sums in the end. But it doesn't stop the gazelle from not wanting to be eaten by the lion, or the lion from not wanting to be killed by the bacterial and fungal infection caused by eating the gazelle. Even though that system saves them from overpopulation and starvation.
It's difficult walking up to somebody who is focusing on a great loss in that moment and has trouble seeing the traded gain, and saying "your loss is part of a greater gain" or "It's God's Plan™️" and expecting them not to tell you to fuck off.
This is what right-wing politics understands and exploits while the left plugs their ears closes their eyes and goes "lalalala can't hear you over all that white/male/western/ablist/historical/etc privilege". And then lefties are stunned when they lose elections to fascists.
Anyway, rant rant..