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0 sats \ 11 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 3 Oct \ parent \ on: Men need to man-up to save America culture
Reduced unity of belief, increased breakdown of family structures, dysfunctional food supply and resultant obesity epidemic, increasing inequality, corrupt political system owned by corporate sponsors, fiat money, rampant inflation, chronic trade deficits chronic fiscal deficits, emphasis on consumption while ever increasing citizen and government debt due to lack of productivity- ie an economy and culture that consumes more than it produces.
There's an excellent book called "The Geography of Genius". One of the points is that much of the things you mention are exactly the environment in which geniuses such as Mozart or Beethoven, Socrates, etc etc are forged in. These environments push humanity forward. Especially the reduced unity of belief. That's a huge positive. Although like it says in the book, it's unpleasant, not fun to live in, but highly beneficial to society and humanity. It's not comfortable though.
It's not society.... it's specific areas of society that have the family breakdown etc. There are other places doing really well. I mean gosh, folks might think all years after bitcoin were a cultural incline, when they look back through the eye of history.
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You have never experienced the defeat of your nation state in conflict with other nations.
People and countries that have experienced such defeat and enslavement under imperialism have a very different view.
They do not take for granted the wealth and privilege that goes with resource hegemony and the rise of individualism that goes with it and which often leads to cultural decline and eventually end of empire.
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There's something in what you just said; I have not experienced it. People and countries that have experienced such defeat and enslavement are usually hegemonic. Sure, it's more comfortable. But it's weaker.
The rise of individualism gives power for individuals to contribute. Collective societies tend to fall behind. That's what happens when you trample the rights of individuals.
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Being defeated leaves that nation under the hegemony of the nations who triumphed over them. The hegemony is imposed upon them. That is the nature of hegemony.
Hegemonic Western powers have trampled on the rights of other cultures and their citizens for centuries and the superior individual 'rights' enjoyed by citizens of western nations are built upon that cultural genocide and resource hegemony imposed by the west.
The west is now in decline with individuals within it valuing their 'rights' more highly than the national structure, unity and dominance which enabled those 'rights'.
There is a delicate balance required between what people demand of their government and what people are prepared to contribute in return. People too long in the dominant position forget the importance of unity and contribution to the common good.
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Cultural genocide is not genocide if people choose to adopt the stuff of the other culture. Much of the western culture is not "imposed" on others, it's adopted by individuals who enjoy it. Even in muslim countries who claim it's imposed, a lot of the adoption of western culture is from individuals who just enjoy it and want to emulate it and live it. That's not genocide.
Anyway.
This is not a degrading society;
https://x.com/Chesschick01/status/1842016503677251804
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You really need to do some reading starting with The Opium Wars and going on to Allende in Chile, Massadagh in Iran and Sukarno in Indonesia and the one million Indonesians killed on order from the CIA.
Assassinating democratically elected leaders, murdering citizens and installing obedient puppets- this is what the West has done- this is what the USA has done...and yes those nations and their peoples are traumatised by the violence, theft and murder of the western imperialists.
The west has been brutal and methodical in its capture and control of global resources- almost no culture has not been subjugated- the more fortunate ones simply have limited resources of interest to the imperialists and are the least impacted although they were often still taken as slaves.
The 'rights and freedoms' of the west are built upon the theft, murder, rape, pillage and enslavement of all other nations and cultures.
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Oh. You're one of the "hate ourselves" folks. I don't have time for that.
It's never "The West". It's "This group of people in the west" while others in the west have opposed them. I will not take credit for all of the bad things when I have not done them and I and others I know have opposed it. We are also the west.
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I am certainly one of those who believes you need to look at yourself and your cultures actions and acknowledge that no one is free of complicity.
We who live in the west enjoy an aggregate of wealth freedom and opportunity greater than those who live in nations and cultures that have been occupied, controlled and resource exploited by the west.
This is not to hate yourself but to know yourself and your culture.
I enjoy the freedoms we have- the freedom of speech and trade and thought but recognise this is in part possible due to our capture control and domination of resources...when the nation state is secure then individual rights and freedoms can be more easily argued for- when the nation state is oppressed and subject to external imperial demands it is less easy to improve the rights and freedoms of citizens and more prone to autocracy, tyranny and corruption.
Yes many in the west are prepared to examine our complicity and responsibility and collective hypocrisy and seek to address it - while you would appear more inclined to ignore it.