I’m not hellbent on punishing people and I’m not lacking in compassion. I have a great deal of compassion for good people who are genuinely suffering and worse off through no fault of their own. I have been volunteering for 7 years as a tutor for newcomer families (mostly refugee families from Somalia).

These families are far from what I’d call free riders. They are tenacious and eager to contribute to society. They also happen to have a very strong community, unlike the neighbourhood I live in (more on that later).

The ruling elite aren’t the reason it won’t happen. The disappearance of local community is. I’m only 40 years old and yet I’ve noticed a DRAMATIC change in the neighbourhood where I grew up (and still live). When I was a kid everyone was kind and friendly. There were tons of other kids around like me.

Now there are hardly any kids around. I go for a walk and all I see are people my age or older, usually walking a dog with a scowl on their face. Society’s institutions are gone or moribund. Hardly anyone is friendly. Everyone is just looking out for themselves and treating their neighbours with cold suspicion.

This isn’t just my personal feelings or my weird neighbourhood. It’s everywhere and people are talking about it, if not always in the spotlight.

There are just so many people who are only in it for themselves and wealth has little to do with it. It’s the lack of community bonds. I would love to hear how a change in the political system could fix that but I won’t hold my breath for it to happen.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

We're basically the same age. That's entertaining to me. I can't really explain why, it just is.

I want to strongly express that I do understand where you're coming from. I get it.

I still think that a non-monetary society would work. Again, it will not be tried, but I believe it would work.

At this point however, I believe that you understand me and I understand you, we simply disagree. That's fine, it's what makes society great and life worth living; our differences. It would be so boring if we all thought the same and had the same opinions.

I want to thank you for the discourse and echoes my gratitude for the civil discussion. I really do mean that, though, through text, it might seem like sarcasm, I promise that it is not.

I wish you the best and I hope you have a great and productive life ahead, good fortune, and good health. As I'm sure you know, at our age, health starts getting harder to maintain.

At the end of the day, despite our differences, I like you. You're articulate and well spoken and you've been a pleasure to have a conversation with. If you want to discuss anything further, feel free, or if you want to take this off of the public view, I believe I have my matrix account linked in my profile. I would welcome anything further you wish to say or discuss.

Be well.