this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
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Everything just seems so out of control. The US seems to be tearing itself apart. The world is on fire. We seem to be going backwards when it comes to freedom and human rights. We've turned our backs on each other. How do you cope with all this without just giving up?

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[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

On average the world is better than it's ever been

Of course, certain groups of people have been trying to reverse these trends in the name of...money? Tradition?

The newer generations are no longer becoming smarter (I believe it was the Flynn effect). Education is being defunded at all levels.

The cost of living in many parts of the world has been outpacing wages... especially now, but for decades. Yet we have more wealth hoarded into fewer hands.

Anti-vax and anti-science movements have been reintroducing measles and have been making it hard to fight other diseases.

We are seeing the effects of these things in action, and they will only get worse over time.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They’re trying to reverse those trends because acknowledging those trends means giving up on their theory that our dominant economic system is defunct.

[–] highduc@lemmy.ml 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's cancer and it's killing us all.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Exactly. That kind of thinking doesn't work when you realize the "cancer" is producing situations like:

Higher life expectancies, less war, better quality of life

Do you disagree with those statements? Do you need to see evidence before you'll believe them?

Or do you acknowledge the statements, but disagree that they justify the "cancer" of our current economic system?

[–] highduc@lemmy.ml 0 points 11 months ago

Do you disagree with those statements? Do you need to see evidence before you’ll believe them?\

I disagree with them.
Higher life expectancy - I wouldn't attribute that to capitalism. Further more life expectancy in the US is declining afaik.
Less war - What do you mean? There's a war in Ukraine, one in Palestine, and there's been perpetual war since ...forever. The US war machine always bombs some country, assassinates a democratically elected leader, etc.
Better quality of life - For the 1% at the expense of all the others maybe.

Capitalism is all about profits, not about better products, better quality of life, etc. In fact it's easily against those things if they get in the way of profit. You can see enshittification everywhere.
For example it would be against their interest for a pharmaceutical company to sell the permanent cure for a disease instead of life-long medical treatment. The latter would be subscription-based therefore create more profit. The cancer comparison is quite fitting imo.