Sweetleaf wrote:
Seriously? I try and observe the good things about it, that's supposed to motivate an individual to go out there and give it there all right?
What I think is the best thing about this society (I am American, like you) is that it is very young with almost no traditions and therefore very open to change. It is the place where people come to re-invent themselves and make little sub-cultures that they couldn't make in their country of origen ( historic example, the Puritans). Many of these sub-cultures are in conflict with each other which keeps the country moving forward and ever-changing. It's not a static place. I think this is its' greatest strength.
Ideally maybe its open to change and a place where people can come to re-invent themselves, but the reality does not seem quite like that. Also the U.S is not the only place with sub-cultures so while they are nice for sure especially if you find one that fits.....Like I enjoy heavy metal music so I consider myself a metalhead but I don't see that as something great about this society.
But maybe by subcultures you mean any divided groups including political parties....in which case all that 'conflict' bothers me more than anything because it paints the politicians as immature children that will stop at nothing to make the other party look bad, to me its not something to be proud of. Quote:
Well what about the growing number of individuals who see nothing appealing about the disgusting ways in which humans are encouraged to live their lives.
Can you expand. I have my own ideas of what is disgusting and you have yours and other people have theirs. It may be that what you consider disgusting is also something I would like to change. Or it may be that what you consider disgusting is something I am actively embracing and will fight to keep. This is so subjective.
Well there are people who agree with me that this society is unappealing and people are encouraged to live in rather disgusting ways....such as doing anything to get to the top even if its at the expense of others, totally stripping the land of resources and refusing to consider renewable energy sources or resources because their lobbyists might lose money for instance. But yes it is somewhat subjective as people are going to have different opinions on the matter and i never claimed otherwise. Quote:
Not to mention to me the statistics that clam the U.S has one of the highest rates of mental illness, point to this society being unhealthy rather than individuals needing fixing to better conform to it.
Some possibilities:
1)An unhealthy society is driving people crazy- I don't agree that it is society at large but I think there are micro-enviroments which can cause mental illness, damaging the people who grow up in them. There was an affordable housing complex- was it in Chicago?- that was designed (unintentionally) in a way that caused social and psychological problems to many people living in it. It has since been torn down. Posters well versed in sociology may know what I'm talking about. I wish I could remember the name., It is but one example of a damaging micro-enviroment.
2)Mental states that were not previously considered mental illness or are not considered mental illness elsewhere in the world are getting that label here in the U.S. A possible example is ADHD.
3)A variation on the toxic micro-enviroment is the enviromental toxin(s). There may be physical things that we are ingesting and shouldn't be or aren't ingesting and should be that mess up brain chemistry. This would be bound by geography and government policies of what is or isn't allowed in the enviroment.
4)Normal human variation in brain chemistry might predispose many people to what we call mental illness but a particular enviroment prevents that from happening or makes it less pathological. I have heard arguments that the forward-thinking and always-changing, individuality-focused society that I praised in the first paragraph can tip some people over into depression or other pathological states because they aren't anchored by the stability of strong traditions and an unchanging community.
Well even so I still think the larger society in general contributes to mental illness....its not just micro environments. Though those things you list are contributing factors as well. Also I don't think its good to be focused so much on individuality to the extent our society does. I mean if anything it is encouraged to put the individual first no matter whos expense its at. I don't think a community with strong traditions that never changes would be very appealing either since that would likely be far to rigid. Maybe a good balance between the two extremes would be alright though but it seems this society is all 'compete, compete, compete to succeed and be 'better' than the next person so you can get further then the next person.' I mean people in society look down on those who work in fast food places for instance I mean its not uncommon for people to say 'you want to be successful not some loser flipping burgers.' well why is someone a 'loser' for having a job that creates food for customers? I mean why does it always have to be about being better than others.
This sort of competition is great for sports, but not so much a society full of people with greatly varying levels of skills, abilities ect....it kind of tends to either destroy or leave behind those who cannot keep up or play the game with no remorse whatsoever.
29 Aug 2012, 8:12 am
Exactly F**k society. It ain't even worth the time to try and fix it.
