This is actually an older news story, and it does appear as though she recovered from this before her death.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14389544
this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2024
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A Boring Dystopia
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You could always ask. I know that I'm not the usual American but I'd say that the reason (and reason why nothing of note has been done about it since neoliberalism set its hooks) is as simple as the increase in wealth disparity.
That's definitely a consequence of current policy, but it isn't the cause.
We have domestic policies and social structures that encourage wealth aggregation. And we have certain administrative heads that champion these policies.
If you want to get to the deepest of root causes, it's definitely anti-social mental illnesses exhibited by those seeking and holding power, leading them to be driven to gorge on more and more.
Any higher than that, I'd still argue that wealth/power/resource disparity is the cause of the vast majority of societal problems. From crime, to healthcare access, to homelessness, and invasive, privacy-violating tech. They all come back to one thing: people don't have enough resources, despite there being more than enough to do around. The disparity enables those with the lions' share of resources to leverage them to extract even more, in a cycle that we've been seeing since at least Reagan's union busting days.
That's more a survivorship bias. People with anti-social issues have an easier time maximizing the profitability of their financial ventures.
Its also why so much modern business has to happen in increasingly alienated fashion. Don't own a sweatshop, invest in one. Don't invest in a sweatshop, invest in H&M stock. Don't invest in H&M stock, invest in a textiles ETF. Don't invest in the textile industry, just give your money to a professional investment advisor. The farther away you get, the less the consequences of your actions will haunt you. The whole system is designed to hide the messy details from the people moving the money.
Also a big reason why we have a bunch of AgGag laws in big farming states. Can't let people who buy the meat see how the sausage is made.
Absolutely true. But even before Reagan, the old 1950s/60s union leadership was selling out its base in the name of American nationalism. Truman and then Eisenhower spent their respective terms empowering Hoover's FBI to purge all the Lefties from labor. Hollywood got its blacklists. Universities were purged of their Marxist professors. Shop floors had to denounce the IWW before they could win contracts with the more business-aligned AFL.
By the time Reagan started cracking knees at the FAA, the spine of the labor movement had already been broken.
I think that we're actual nearly in agreement. To clarify, when I say "anti-social mental illnesses", I don't necessarily mean Anti-Social Personality Disorder (not discounting it either but, it's likely more complex than just that and it's a topic that I am not aware of seeing much study because those afflicted are considered models of "success"). Rather, I mean that these individuals are exhibiting behaviors that are knowingly detrimental to the society and the human species for individual gain (most often gain that could be greater and more sustainable without anti-social behavior).
Also, please note that I'm not trying to say "mental illness" is the cause of all of the world's wrongs. Myself and just about everyone that I am close to have some form of mental illness and/or neurodivergence and I can guarantee that we're not the cause (nor have we heard of a secret society called The Stonecutters /s).
If you want to get really anthropological and take a long lens view, this is a process of speciation. Humans as accidental super-predators give rise to the Homo Capitalismi, an apex predator who annihilates the parent species in the same way humans annihilated millions of other species.
Fair enough. I've heard more than a few folks suggest the medicalization of the market mechanic, wherein we can have our free markets if we just get all the CEOs on enough mood altering chemicals. Glad you're not on that track.
A shame, really. Their music slaps.
That is an interesting and incredibly dystopic suggestion. Could make for excellent satirical fiction. For reality, definitely an awful thought. Should the hypothetical H. capitalismi be anything but an evolutionary dead end, either a "cross-species" caste system would be required (those at the top tend to make up for lack of tangible skills with money) or major leaps in technology necessary to realize transhumanist visions. Such technologies are, barring major leaps, are unlikely to be available within any current lifetimes.
Indeed. I also want to be extra clear due to "mental illness" being the latest favorite scapegoat for things like mass shootings. My thoughts are more that understanding better why some individuals act in such anti-social ways could lead to potential rehabilitation but, more importantly, equitable social organization that is more resilient in the face of such forces.