Posted by alexandra_k on July 10, 2018, at 20:35:54
In reply to Re: Paul Jay, posted by alexandra_k on July 10, 2018, at 20:17:38
I guess it's about seeing people as less than human and thinking you are justified as treating them as less than human because of this, that, or the other reason.
Sometimes people don't want relationships with persons. Where there is a sense of equality or mutuality. Where there needs to be negotiation with give and take. People would rather have control over a minion or pet and get their way mostly. I suppose I tend to underestimate the number of people who buy into all that...
The rich people I know mostly seem to believe that their friends are only their friends because they are rich... Their being rich makes it easy for people to come and stay with them and so on, I suppose... But it makes for a superficiality in the relationship... They get to do whatever and other people try and smooth things over for them, all the time... My rich friends seem genuinely fearful that they wouldn't have friends if they weren't rich... They seem happy enough to work with that, though, rather than working to develop genuinely mutual relationships. They... Opt out of personal development?
I don't know.
The government gave beneficiaries a $20 per week increase to help with power costs, last week (for the next few months). It sounds a lot because our currency is over-inflated... Of course my power bill was $90, to match that... To keep 2 rooms (bedroom, kitchen) and a lobby within WHO temperature (18-21) range of heating...
I'm supposed to pretend it's not cold. That's what people do here. Just pretend it's not cold. Pheunomia is caused by nasty bacteria and people die prematurely because of gluttony... Yeah, right.
Of course it's impossible to avoid statistics... It's just that there is so much money tied up in confusing and obscuring... And sometimes it's worth trying to get at some of the more fundamental assumpitons. Often what you find in that first chapter of 'particular field101). Economics is an alien land...
Because the things that are most important in life... Happpiness. Health. Education. Wealth. Flourishing. None of these are limited resources. None of these are particularly quantitative. A better world is a world with more of this stuff -- and more of this stuff is not particularly associated with any kind of increase in the number of people). Quantitative measures shift the subject and divert attention with (most often) shiny things that actually work to undermine the above...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1099420
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20140225/msgs/1099507.html