Materially, our ancestors would murder to have days off every week and limited work hours in exchange for sufficient food and nutrition, and they did so in constant, careful, worried concert with their entire community. And that has an emotional burden far in excess of what we endure, make no mistake.
Socially, the ascendency of industrialism and labor mobility during the Cold War - in both ideologically capitalist and communist states - has splintered communal ties and atomized families, making many emotional and social endeavors much more taxing than they once were. Combine that with the slow death of ‘third places’ in the post-Cold War era, and you have a recipe for some… arduous emotional ordeals.
Also, please remember that pre-modern societies are often immensely repressive themselves, and that ‘closeness’ is often at the expense of individual expression and self-actualization.
Materially, our ancestors would murder to have days off every week and limited work hours in exchange for sufficient food and nutrition, and they did so in constant, careful, worried concert with their entire community.
It’s not a fair comparison cause you’re not going back far enough. There is not much debate comparing being poor today to being poor during the Middle Ages.
If you compare modern life to pre agricultural times, then it gets tricky, they worked a lot less and weren’t constantly starving. They were athletes by today’s standards, with their own challenges and hardships. Life was harder but it matched the human needs/desires better than modern life. Hopefully we can reach a society that is better than all of history, not just cherry picked bad parts.
To add to your point, in those times nature was seen as equal to humanity and sustainability was therefore paramount. This is very different from our modern worldview of sustainability, which has us currently marching towards our own extinction.
To add to your point, in those times nature was seen as equal to humanity and sustainability was therefore paramount.
You’re kidding, right? Hunter-gatherer societies regularly radically altered the environment and drove native species to extinction through overhunting. This idea of an ideological proto-environmentalist view is largely constructed in response to hunter-gatherers being pushed off of land by more efficiently unsustainable societies; not because hunter-gatherers have an inherent ideological or spiritual disinclination towards altering the environment.
It’s not a fair comparison cause you’re not going back far enough. There is not much debate comparing being poor today to being poor during the Middle Ages.
Unfortunately there are a great many people who will argue just that, including many leftists.
If you compare modern life to pre agricultural times, then it gets tricky, they worked a lot less and weren’t constantly starving. They were athletes by today’s standards, with their own challenges and hardships. Life was harder but it matched the human needs/desires better than modern life. Hopefully we can reach a society that is better than all of history, not just cherry picked bad parts.
The ‘original affluent society’ argument is a relict of the 70s that desperately needs to die.
I’m firmly in the camp that modern Western culture has taken individualism too far and this worldview has seeped into a dominant global worldview of prioritizing self over others.
Its a common trope in individualistic cultures that people living in collective societies lack personal development. But this ignores that much of personal development comes from how we relate to others. Often it is within the collective that we find ourselves and our purpose.
I find present day Western society to also be obsessed with the idea of an individual saviour, whether it’s in the form of a demogogue, a superhero or a religious figure. The creep towards far right authoritarianism throughout the West attests to this. Often the collective power of likeminded and strong willed people is diminished, which in turn suppresses overall social development.
Communities whither as people become more isolated allowing mental health challenges and drug addiction (which is often a response to these challenges) flourish.
I work in a profession that deals with many people. I meet perhaps 15 to 20 new people every week. The overall arc of what I see is a profound loneliness. I don’t see anyone truly actualizating themselves or finding their unique expression in that sea of despair.
I find present day Western society to also be obsessed with the idea of an individual saviour, whether it’s in the form of a demogogue, a superhero or a religious figure. The creep towards far right authoritarianism throughout the West attests to this.
… do you think far-right authoritarianism was weaker in the more collective past?
Communities whither as people become more isolated allowing mental health challenges and drug addiction (which is often a response to these challenges) flourish.
Mental health challenges and drug addiction are extremely widespread before the ‘modern West’, and outside of the West today as well.
I think the Western world, particularly America, has taken Enlightenment values and misused them to justify hyperindividualism. Everyone is their own hero who had to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. We shouldn’t lift each other up because that will disincentivize them from working for themselves. Its nonsense and it gradually pushes us towards a type of authoritarianism.
I’m not trying to say dynastic or heriditary authoritarianism didn’t exist in the past but its different in my view. The people didn’t have a choice then. Now they’re choosing authoritarianism.
Isolation absolutely increases the incidence of mental health issues and drug addiction, irrespective of region or era. Modern Westerners (especially in the US) are about as isolated as people can be.
Materially no; socially yes.
Materially, our ancestors would murder to have days off every week and limited work hours in exchange for sufficient food and nutrition, and they did so in constant, careful, worried concert with their entire community. And that has an emotional burden far in excess of what we endure, make no mistake.
Socially, the ascendency of industrialism and labor mobility during the Cold War - in both ideologically capitalist and communist states - has splintered communal ties and atomized families, making many emotional and social endeavors much more taxing than they once were. Combine that with the slow death of ‘third places’ in the post-Cold War era, and you have a recipe for some… arduous emotional ordeals.
Also, please remember that pre-modern societies are often immensely repressive themselves, and that ‘closeness’ is often at the expense of individual expression and self-actualization.
It’s not a fair comparison cause you’re not going back far enough. There is not much debate comparing being poor today to being poor during the Middle Ages.
If you compare modern life to pre agricultural times, then it gets tricky, they worked a lot less and weren’t constantly starving. They were athletes by today’s standards, with their own challenges and hardships. Life was harder but it matched the human needs/desires better than modern life. Hopefully we can reach a society that is better than all of history, not just cherry picked bad parts.
To add to your point, in those times nature was seen as equal to humanity and sustainability was therefore paramount. This is very different from our modern worldview of sustainability, which has us currently marching towards our own extinction.
You’re kidding, right? Hunter-gatherer societies regularly radically altered the environment and drove native species to extinction through overhunting. This idea of an ideological proto-environmentalist view is largely constructed in response to hunter-gatherers being pushed off of land by more efficiently unsustainable societies; not because hunter-gatherers have an inherent ideological or spiritual disinclination towards altering the environment.
Unfortunately there are a great many people who will argue just that, including many leftists.
The ‘original affluent society’ argument is a relict of the 70s that desperately needs to die.
I’m firmly in the camp that modern Western culture has taken individualism too far and this worldview has seeped into a dominant global worldview of prioritizing self over others.
Its a common trope in individualistic cultures that people living in collective societies lack personal development. But this ignores that much of personal development comes from how we relate to others. Often it is within the collective that we find ourselves and our purpose.
I find present day Western society to also be obsessed with the idea of an individual saviour, whether it’s in the form of a demogogue, a superhero or a religious figure. The creep towards far right authoritarianism throughout the West attests to this. Often the collective power of likeminded and strong willed people is diminished, which in turn suppresses overall social development.
Communities whither as people become more isolated allowing mental health challenges and drug addiction (which is often a response to these challenges) flourish.
I work in a profession that deals with many people. I meet perhaps 15 to 20 new people every week. The overall arc of what I see is a profound loneliness. I don’t see anyone truly actualizating themselves or finding their unique expression in that sea of despair.
… do you think far-right authoritarianism was weaker in the more collective past?
Mental health challenges and drug addiction are extremely widespread before the ‘modern West’, and outside of the West today as well.
I think the Western world, particularly America, has taken Enlightenment values and misused them to justify hyperindividualism. Everyone is their own hero who had to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. We shouldn’t lift each other up because that will disincentivize them from working for themselves. Its nonsense and it gradually pushes us towards a type of authoritarianism.
I’m not trying to say dynastic or heriditary authoritarianism didn’t exist in the past but its different in my view. The people didn’t have a choice then. Now they’re choosing authoritarianism.
Isolation absolutely increases the incidence of mental health issues and drug addiction, irrespective of region or era. Modern Westerners (especially in the US) are about as isolated as people can be.