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TheSasquatchKing t1_isoutuy wrote

This is great.

Especially the part about growing up under rampant capitalism,

>Global capitalism, with its imperative of productivity and growth,
cannot recognise this dimension of life. From its perspective, time and
resources that cannot be dedicated to these aims are considered wasted.

I'm not really a money driven person, but this still rings true. Any idea I have will very quickly enter the filter of productivity and growth - "how can I use this idea to improve my wealth/health/position."

Even the idea of rest, for me, is in aid of staying fit and healthy so I can go out and work harder, conquer more. It's not for rest itself.

Never saw it as anything other than a natural human instinct, but reading that is struck me that people growing up under different systems probably don't think this way... weird.

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3rdPartyTittiePic t1_isprp32 wrote

That’s the thing though. That is the system we’re under. We can try to work against it, but we’re effectively fighting a battle against the socio-economic system we were reared in. If that’s the way any individual wants to choose to live their life, they can, but it’s just as tormenting as acknowledging/believing in the aimlessness of consumerism in a post-industrial 21st century capitalist society.

I haven’t read Civilization and it’s discontents in years, but I remember that iconoclastic feeling and excitement it gave me. Its premise and thesis rang true. But does that make life any better? Did it? Is that knowledge worth the price? That’s on us to decide as individuals. But if we’re even asking that question, or have the awareness to, we gotta be honest with ourselves. Meet ourselves where we’re at, and understand what being human entails. We can rage against the machine all we want, but we are fighting against ourselves too.

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