Quote:
Originally Posted by pai mei
You two presume that humans do this stuff, because they like it. Because it feels good to do. Wrong. 80% of people - would quit their jobs tomorrow if they could. See that Prisone Exchange story. But they are caught. They have to produce cruise ships - else they have no access to the simple stuff they need.
Look around. How many people just can't wait to get to their job, then when they come home they sing, and paint and tell stories of their deeds. Humans used to to that. What we have here is denial of life - and people molded to accept it. Transformed.
|
I don't think I presumed any such thing. Humans don't do this stuff because it's "good" or "bad" or "feels good" - they do it because a power stronger than the individual, whether that's a tribal council, robber baron, feudal lord, democratic republic, constitutional monarchy, etc., compels them to. The artificial social constructs by which humans are bound to ensure their survival are no more oppressive than the natural laws governing the survival of wild animals. And no, I don't think "wild" is a slur - but I don't think it's synonymous with "free", either. Our lives contain struggle - struggle against a system, or to up hold it, from outside or from within. Similary, the life of a trout, coyote or even mosquito is a struggle to survive and reproduce amidst a scarcity of resources and the threat of predators. There is no difference - it's just that our particular human jungle happens to include copy machines and plastic cups.
I'm afraid the phrase "denial of life" seems a bit shaky. You are assuming that a genuine "life" has to look a certain way without bothering to back up why that is - so far the examples you've given are all about how people still manage to be caring, good and happy when the system fails them, but you haven't proved the opposite - that the system precludes genuine joy and participation in one's life.
[EDIT] I went back up, and I saw that you did talk a bit about people being dissatisfied with their jobs and the moral implications of positions in corporate administration. But elite lawyers and rich executives are only a tiny sliver of the work force. Are schoolteachers miserable with what they do? Does a gardener, line cook, construction worker or Radio Shack employee go home wracked with moral guilt? I can see how society might tell a person that being a rich lawyer is more desirable than being, say, a prep cook at your local seafood restaurant, but no amount of pressure can force you to comply - ultimately, the decision is yours.