Because i have no original thoughts of my own today.
"I think it's important to remember that American life in particular is
institutionally predisposed to make people unhealthy. We have few
walkable/bikeable living choices, absolute crap for food regulation
services, subsidized prices but only for crap food, and a culture that
rewards manipulative marketing behavior. The food market doesn't care if
it kills you, and the USG doesn't either. Good luck out there.
Now we get to the more important part: the lack of time. If you don't
make much money, you have to stay at work for 60+ hours a week to make
it. If you make a little bit of money, your boss will make you stay for
60+ hours a week. Then subtract the worlds longest and worst commutes
from your day. I didn't get healthy until I moved to a country where 40
hours was a full work week, and working outside of that time is viewed
with suspicion and disgust, but the same can probably be achieved with a
change of jobs. And who has those kinds of options open to them? I was
lucky.
I think many of us living fully western lives are miserable because we
are barely valued in our places in the machine. All we have time to do
is work, commute, eat, sleep, and die, with nothing but entertainment
from a small backlit rectangle to see us through. These financial
connections to other people are not nearly as satisfying as regular
camaraderie and meatspace interaction, for me at least, but our
financial connections are the only connections that are valued. Your job
is your life, the source of your financial stability, and probably your
health insurance. But in the end we're still just keeping up with what
we see on television, and accepting bland 22 minute narratives as a
drop-in replacement for living. You can work really hard, miss your kids
growing up and dinners with your partner, and your only upgrade is the kind of car you drive, or the cut of your suit.
So of course almost everyone is miserable, no matter what they look like
or how much money they have compared to others. Many of us are only
alive in a strictly medical definition."
- Tripping Daisy, Metafilter.
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