Problems of our past could often be thought of as “negative” issues. Starvation or malnutrition caused by the lack of food. Plague or sickness caused by external forces. Today though, many of our largest issues come from “positivity”. Obesity is a good example. It stems from too much. Too much food, too much fat, too much of oneself.
Furthermore, in the past, our actions and decisions were governed by laws and cultural expectations that dictated what we may not do, or what we should do. Today this has shifted to a culture dictated by what we can do, or could do, if only we worked hard enough.
We tell children they can do whatever they dream of, if they work hard enough. Not wanting to be a failure we push ourselves harder than a dictator could ever achieve. You work 80 hour weeks because it’s needed to “achieve your potential”, rather than being forced to. It is a form of self slavery. It is rule by desire for the next carrot that can never be achieved, rather than the fear of a stick.
Connections
Mobility & Metropolitan Life Drives Social Atomism
Link Explanation: Both these notes touch on the same underlying issues with current societal structures rooted in the pursuit of wealth, productivity, and instrumental reasoning, rather than family, religion, and a deeply held cultural belief system. The result being extreme isolation of individuals as they pursue self-defined success.