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Totally wouldn't work. We Americans believe in a brotherhood/sisterhood of suffering. If we suffered, we believe that others NEED to suffer as well. It's why nurses are terrible to new nurses, why so many people are against forgiving student debt, and why so many parents refuse to acknowledge their children's issues. It's all "I lived through it and it sucked, so you need to too," mentality. We didn't build compassion though suffering, we just wish it on others, too.
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It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass. Somewhere along the line, it became socially acceptable, then desirable, and finally glorified. We have lost the plot, by and large.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass while poor. You were always supposed to defer to your betters. The Kennedys got to be assholes. The Vanderbilts got to be assholes. The Pullmans got to be assholes. Their employees and staff were expected to be utterly docile and subservient.
But a century of rising middle class prosperity combined with a Randian self-centerism transformed generations of people into CEO wanna-bes. American libertarian ideology and the myth of the Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire has utterly obliterated class consciousness in the minds of the American working class. Millions upon millions of people have it embedded in their heads that they should be treated like aristocracy.
We have lost the plot, by and large.
We've bought into the propaganda of American Exceptionalism. Every American gets indoctrinated into the theory that they're above average, that they're Gifted And Talented, that they're destined to become The President. There is no universal understanding of the human condition, just people who deserve to be under you and people who climbed above you unfairly.
Being the loudest and screaming the most has always been a successful tactic.
Sorry, I mean the "collective we." Of course individuals do build compassion, but look at the state of America and tell me that the collective we is different than I stated.
Did the first half of the trail in '22 and I can concur. I had to stop to make money, but it was so much fun and I miss it every day. I'll be back out there again soon
Try hiking the entire Appalachian Trail
I'm sorry but it will forever be stamped into my brain
I was in the military and my experience was wildly different. If you displayed anything other than hyper masculinity you were a little bitch that anyone could do anything to. Every single woman I served with was sexually assaulted and several of them raped. The rapists were never punished beyond a transfer to another duty station. People constantly stole from each other. Fuck the supposed comradery in the military.
That sounds shitty. I'm sorry your experience in the military was that way, but I wouldn't paint the whole with a big brush like that. There are good people and bad people both in and out of the military.
America is just one endless hazing ritual, from the day you are conceived to the day your grave is exhumed for its real estate value.
👏👏👏👏
"May all prayers go unanswered as the vast majority wish harm upon another human being."
(The paradox of the most religious societies simultaneously being the most cruel in practice)
And there would always be outs for the rich so they wouldn't have to.
Totally wouldn't work. We Americans believe in a brotherhood/sisterhood of suffering. I
As someone who's been in the compulsory military service, this is exactly what would happen. The "old cans" in there haze and expect the newbies to suffer like they did.