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This one cuts deep:
The modern condition is mostly trying to do things on your own that people have historically achieved with a large support network and wondering why you're tired all the time.

reshared this

in reply to Earthshine

The one thing I find most intriguing about the Fediverse is that people have or find revelations about why modern life is such a struggle all the time.
in reply to Earthshine

100%. and even worse for those experiencing racism or other forms of discrimination— they don’t have the large support system AND the rules of the rest of society don’t apply to them.
in reply to Earthshine

as someone raising children this one cuts deep :thisisfine: there is a lot of truth in the saying “it takes a village.”
in reply to Earthshine

I wonder if the whole individualistic pressure in the US is meant to divide us so we're weaker and easier to control.
in reply to Neil E. Hodges

@tk eh. The delusional idea that anyone can “do it alone” is insulation from progressive ideas.
in reply to Earthshine

This so much.
We lost community, belonging and the ability to act as a group.
We are individualized, isolated, lonely.
in reply to Earthshine

yes I'm pretty much alone most of the time these days.
in reply to Earthshine

Perhaps competition & capitalism are NOT the way to go?
in reply to Earthshine

@frank Yeah - some thoughts of mine on that: https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2019/its-not-just-you/
in reply to Earthshine

Yep. Every musician is now a producer, an engineer, a mixer, a masterer, an A&R rep, a manager, a social media manager, a non-music content creator, etc. And by necessity!
in reply to Earthshine

It's weird how instead of having actual support networks again what most "RETURN" types mean is "let's roll back women's rights two hundred years and starve every urban area".
in reply to Earthshine

I'm only tired because nobody is able/willing to do anything *CORRECTLY,* which means I have to to the job over, which takes longer than my doing it myself, right, the first time.
So, why do double work?
#GenXers
in reply to Earthshine

you mean how I feel like a total idiot because I'm building and running my own saas and struggling with international tax issues that I can't solve by myself.
in reply to Earthshine

having a kid with a minimal family support network is tough yo. No babysitter takes some creative work scheduling.
in reply to Earthshine

I mean let's make a large support network, who's with me
in reply to Earthshine

"people historically" have been incredibly diverse in behavior and modes of social organization.

we've been doing all sorts of crazy things we don't even know about for the past 300k years- and those we do know about, we hardly understand.

normality is an illusion, there is no ideal primordial condition to retvrn to.

build your own condition.

in reply to Earthshine

If it takes a village to raise a child, how might one get by with…say…an ‘airport layover bathroom’ quantity of people?
in reply to Earthshine

a large support network can definitely be nice, but it is also necessarily a large obligation network
in reply to Earthshine

take napoleon for instance. He was not a working class hero. He was Italian aristocracy that took over the French government.
in reply to Earthshine

do you have some examples what things you have in mind?
in reply to Earthshine

given that I recently became a parent, this totally makes sense!
Unknown parent

Nudhul
schizomaxing i see

Neil E. Hodges doesn't like this.

Unknown parent

legumancer Davy
@pkw @tk what's the story with meat pushing?
in reply to Earthshine

@TicklishHoneyBee see also me traveling around the world and being literally incapable of asking for help from anyone lest I be a burden to them
in reply to Earthshine

This.

Single parents like me without a social network sit around wondering why we struggle to come up to scratch? Whew.

ALL THE TIME.

in reply to Earthshine

It's lonely and arduous. Even in my mother's day, more people stayed close to home all their lives. They had big family dinners and helped with each other's children. But when we were grown, my cousins were spread all over the US.
in reply to Earthshine

One of my (unpopular?) opinions is that having to do everything yourself is a net negative on freedom, despite what "rugged individualists" believe.
in reply to Earthshine

The converse of this is people pointing out how productive certain rich people are and saying "they have the same 24 hour days that you do."
in reply to Earthshine

It took me a long time to learn that professionals have staff and work at it full time, and baking is my HOBBY.
in reply to Earthshine

On the other hand, historical people didn't have antibiotics, so a large number of children died in the 1st few years of life

Also no anesthetics, so surgery was pretty painfull

Also, at least after agriculture, they spent most of their lives in back breaking toil just to have enough calories to stave off starvation

but other then that, petty idyllic

Neil E. Hodges doesn't like this.

in reply to Earthshine

Damn, that's profound.
This one cuts deep:
The modern condition is mostly trying to do things on your own that people have historically achieved with a large support network and wondering why you're tired all the time.
in reply to Earthshine

becoming a parent really drove this home for me.
in reply to Earthshine

on the other hand, there’s far more things that we used to have to do for ourselves, from growing food to building our own houses, from making and mending clothes to the education of our children.
in reply to Earthshine

has this also something to do with people (particularly women) refusing to do free labour? And a lot of this community support was provided through churches which people are opting out of.
in reply to Earthshine

Some of us can do it to a very exceptional degree. Maybe we can all do it to some agree if there is some minimal support system in the background.
in reply to Earthshine

modern work has extended hours and responsibilities while decreasing human energy.
in reply to Earthshine

don't forget step 0: cutting off your support network over trivial selfish and/or political disagreements
in reply to Earthshine

Support network could've been replaced by social services but they gut that too
in reply to Earthshine

I used to the think "it takes a village to raise a child" was a statement about the diverse skills and community ethos required to raise healthy adults. 2 kids later, I take it quite literally.
in reply to Earthshine

@FaithfullJohn i remember years ago realizing that a printer was some professional downtown and not a machine you had to learn to operate in your own home. and many other examples like this.
in reply to Earthshine

I feel this, having two young kids! But in a pre-modern condition I’d likely be dead (c-section), constantly worried about having enough food, and living in the same house as my in-laws (to get said support). Overall I will take the modern condition.