I have this abiding conviction (unprovable, I know) that MOST of the people in this world are nice, kind, generous, compassionate, caring individuals. In every country. In every social class. In every religion. It's the outliers that screw things up for the rest of us.
And because news programming and cyberspace give undue emphasis to sensational problems and crises, those of us who wander the 'net for a couple hours every day tend to have our view of the world distorted by the acts of the criminals, polluters, fanatics, plutocrats, warmongers, and politicians.
It's important to take time to appreciate the rest of the people in the world. That's what Mark does in this Vimeo offering entitled "This Is My Home." The man lives in New York. He's real. And I think he's more typical than most people would realize.
Via Reddit.
"It's the outliers that screw things up for the rest of us."
ReplyDeleteWould you be willing to live on $7,000 a year to level the playing field, or are you invested in the luxuries of the lifestyle afforded by a system which rewards "outliers" for their "bad behavior"?
Familiar with the logical fallacy: "False Dilemma"? Because asking somebody to choose between completely unnecessary gross economic inequality vs. complete equality is an example of it. Economic inequality was last at its worst just before the 1929 crash, after that more progressive (read: less laissez faire) policy resulted in decades of increasing prosperity for all U.S. citizens, not coincidentally inequality has been on a steady climb since the 70s along with an increasing adoption of supply side/neoliberal policy.
DeleteThat post represents a heavily edited-down version of a diatribe that well-meaning people don't deserve to see.
DeleteTo summarize without being unnecessarily offensive: we live in a world in which approximately 33% of the population lives in conditions which would be considered "cruel and unusual" punishment for a criminal in the USA and we can change that, but we've yet to show any real signs of trying.
It is a false dilemma - given that the cost to rectify many of these problems is less than the amount of money spent by the "charitable" population of the USA every year on Black Friday, we are all complicit (though not to the extent that we would need to forego all luxuries to save lives and improve the lot of the rest of humanity)... and that undercuts the tragedy of the world's top 1% (if you earn a median US salary, you qualify) being unwilling to part with trifling material possessions at the expense of others' lives.
My point is that the "outliers" which Minnesotastan mentioned really aren't outliers so much as the focal points of a collective delusion: our way of life, however concerned we may claim to be about our fellow humans, is so self-centered as to preclude even realistic provisions for progeny.
There are lots of statistics (2% GDP vs 4.79% GDP) and graphs to support this notion, if you're interested.
I'm not sure why this thread has swerved into the sphere of economics. When I spoke of "outliers" I was thinking of the realm of personal behavior, compassion, friendliness and other social habits. I would consider such traits to be generally independent of wealth and income.
DeleteIf the priorities of nations and corporations (i.e. large groups of humans) generally do not reflect generosity or kindness, is it fair to say that people are generally kind to eachother when their collective actions adversely affect other people?
Delete... and if you blame "outliers" for the actions of large human collectives, does that not imply that the humans which make up these collectives have failed to live up to your expectation of caring by repeatedly ignoring the effect of their actions?
I wonder how many hoarders think that they're this guy. Or think they would be, if only the kids would pick up after themselves.
ReplyDeleteHeartwarming. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteTo bring the thread back a tad. You wrote:
ReplyDelete"because news programming and cyberspace give undue emphasis to sensational problems and crises, those of us who wander the 'net for a couple hours every day tend to have our view of the world distorted by the acts of the criminals, polluters, fanatics, plutocrats, warmongers, and politicians":
... Which is one of the major reasons why I follow your blog so regularly and with such appreciation, Stan.
Hi, Dr. Mieke. Sorry to hear you're selling your horses, but at least they are not being slaughtered as so many Texas ones are in this country because of the drought.
DeleteI must be on a different planet. I watched the video, and I didn't think of inequality, or economics, or who has what or doesn't. I watched a rich man tonight, talk a bit about his life. I watched a man who uses his possessions as 'tools'to meet people, to promote conversations and and sharing memories or experiences.
ReplyDeleteAnd for a moment, I wondered when and how we changed so that our possessions now define us, who we are, and what class we belong to or aspire to. And I gazed at my room here and sighed ... for a moment, I saw a different perspective, a different way of seeing .. and I'm grateful. Thanks, Minnesotastan.
Susan