Entry tags:
I Wouldn't Think That'd be Hard, But...
Sometimes I feel bad that there's not more I can do to help fix this world, but not too bad, when I consider what the people with the most power in our world get up to. Like, I do legitimately think it's not possible to have a benevolent dictatorship because of the flaws of dictatorship itself, even if the person in charge were perfectly benevolent.
But also, the people in charge are not only *not* benevolent (much less perfectly benevolent), but are so incredibly evil, and so deliberately so, that it's just hard for me to even fathom. Like it's hard for me to even keep up with the Bill Gates or the Elon Musks or the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world, or most the political leaders I hear about.
These people will rationalize the most awful things like:
*Bill Gates privatizing a covid vaccine that was intended to be released as a public good. And I just want to emphasize that this is not so the scientists or manufacturing employees are better compensated, but so some CEO who has nothing to do with any of that is paid billions more while they underpay their workers and overcharge their customers). Somehow, Gates thinks this is helping people. Like, this is the kind of thing his *charity* is devoted to.
*Elon Musk using his corporate power to undercut effective public transportation and climate mitigation strategies with his incredibly impractical and dangerous proposals. And I mean a lot of his money comes straight from the government via subsidies from companies like SpaceX so even if he's using his own money, no he's not, because a huge portion of that is money he got from low-income taxpayers, lol. Him owning Tesla and touting how important he is for climate mitigation just ups the irony factor.
*Mark "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" Zuckerberg's own littleself-doxxing scheme social media site.
And that's really just barely scratching the surface, both in terms of what any of the above-listed people have been involved in, and in terms of the people who are involved in actively ruining our world.
So while I do think positive action is important, I also think there really is something to be said about just trying to adopt an ethos where one is not actively trying to make the world worse. Because that is literally what these people, and the people who model their behavior after these people, are doing.
Sometimes doing nothing is a good thing. But also, sometimes just not deliberately and intentionally going out of your way to make the world worse is a good thing, too. We live in a world where apparently that needs to be said.
But also, the people in charge are not only *not* benevolent (much less perfectly benevolent), but are so incredibly evil, and so deliberately so, that it's just hard for me to even fathom. Like it's hard for me to even keep up with the Bill Gates or the Elon Musks or the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world, or most the political leaders I hear about.
These people will rationalize the most awful things like:
*Bill Gates privatizing a covid vaccine that was intended to be released as a public good. And I just want to emphasize that this is not so the scientists or manufacturing employees are better compensated, but so some CEO who has nothing to do with any of that is paid billions more while they underpay their workers and overcharge their customers). Somehow, Gates thinks this is helping people. Like, this is the kind of thing his *charity* is devoted to.
*Elon Musk using his corporate power to undercut effective public transportation and climate mitigation strategies with his incredibly impractical and dangerous proposals. And I mean a lot of his money comes straight from the government via subsidies from companies like SpaceX so even if he's using his own money, no he's not, because a huge portion of that is money he got from low-income taxpayers, lol. Him owning Tesla and touting how important he is for climate mitigation just ups the irony factor.
*Mark "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" Zuckerberg's own little
And that's really just barely scratching the surface, both in terms of what any of the above-listed people have been involved in, and in terms of the people who are involved in actively ruining our world.
So while I do think positive action is important, I also think there really is something to be said about just trying to adopt an ethos where one is not actively trying to make the world worse. Because that is literally what these people, and the people who model their behavior after these people, are doing.
Sometimes doing nothing is a good thing. But also, sometimes just not deliberately and intentionally going out of your way to make the world worse is a good thing, too. We live in a world where apparently that needs to be said.