To quote John Gray.
Opinions welcomed.
I agree with John Gray on his points.
Economics is driven by the predictability of stupid people.
I think it’s more like alphabet soup, some people are stupid, but many people are quite aware of the activities they are taking in but the fact is modern life is crazy. No one owns their own resources (land, farm, etc) anymore and specialization largely is what has caused the fundamental squeeze on society, once industrialization occured and specialization kept getting deeper and deeper, the advent of more sophisticated financing and the stock market creates this insane feedback cycle where capitalism is like a dog eating it’s own tail. People have no idea how to stop feeding businesses without hurting themselves or having to put up with flack from others (I want this, that and the other thing, etc). This whole feedback feeds businesses in turn are raping the workers and the planet that in turn the workers are screwing themselves. Ultimately both the workers, and the employers as well (long term). The classes that are immune from this are the rich, since they control the money supply.
It’s tragically comedic if we think about it, but once the laughs where off one see’s the seriousness of the flaws of a culture produced by commodity fetishism and advertising. The truth is TV and mass media technology to advertise products have probably had the most corrosive cultural effects on society at large, since now everyone can easily see and know about who has what and this drives their hunger and lust to have more. We love our products and technology and the truth is most people would not give up consumerism until you pried their products out of their cold dead hands, children today are pretty much primed to be voracious eaters of product and consumerist propaganda.
It’s also worrisome because people become ‘compulsive spenders’ and are ‘comfort purchasers’, when they get depressed they shop, etc. I’m sure many people are aware of the rat trap but simply are too time constrained to think much about it because they are working like dogs and trying to support their families, etc, etc.
Choice is a daunting position, and the contemporary world provides choice on a level far exceeding the levels ever exprienced in human history. However choice is often masked through the distractive tactics of media and advertising; instead of choosing what we want we are simply told what we should want (often deeply sub-consciously) and what will make us happy. We make the purchase and we often are left, if extremely temporarily, happy. It is hard to assertain how much choice we do in fact weild when it comes to our purchases, or whether actual true choice is indeed neccesary; if happines can be achieved by blind purchases so what… we get what we want right?
The liberty experienced in the current social climate is far more dangerous, I feel , than many appreciate. With out the invisible shackles and habits of older times, where mundane routine featured far more heavily in life (Such as religion, stringent hierarchy etc) we are left to decihper the world however we may want to. Attempting to explain suge a large, complex and irrational universe often does drive us to rebel and seek distractions, rather than face the brutal fact we simply do not understand why we are here or what we should do. Consumer products make such distractions far more readily available and effective. However i would argue all areas of our lives are distractions in one way or another from the bleak truth; love, marriage, children, hobbies and occupatons. Through them we escape the perpetual modern quandry of self-explanation which can so quickly cripple even the most motivated of characters.
Not sure how related to the topic these two points are, but they were inspired by it nonetheless.
Aj
Great paragraph! =D>
“With out the invisible shackles and habits of older times, where mundane routine featured far more heavily in life (Such as religion, stringent hierarchy etc) we are left to decihper the world however we may want to. Attempting to explain suge a large, complex and irrational universe often does drive us to rebel and seek distractions, rather than face the brutal fact we simply do not understand why we are here or what we should do.”
That deserves a quote! 
That was very well put.
I understand where you are coming from and agree about the distractions from self-explanation.
I simply have accepted that I will never know. I still learn and take interest in science and philosophy, but I realize that there will be no end answer.
The only way I can say it leaves me feeling is, well, carefree to an extent.
That is true, in a way.
People who are slaves are the ones who do not realize their choice is their own.
Some who live the lives of ur average consumer are happy that way…I mean truly happy.
Like myself. I aspire to nothing too grand, and I see nothing wrong with that semi-hedonistic lifestyle.
Existence is what you make of it with the time you have. Although I fail to remember this far too often, taking it too seriously just seems like a waste of time.
Live and die, and I suppose it doesn’t matter.