I love a quote that’s attributed to FDR: “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.”Our ancestors achieved a level of freedom previously unknown in human history, and from that has flown prosperity to an almost ludicrous degree.They wrote founding documents that, while flawed, laid the foundation for passing that freedom and prosperity on to us as a birthright.In the present moment, we appear to be shoving it away with both hands, and largely because we have such a distorted relationship with suffering.In North Korea, people worry about collecting enough shit to avoid being sent to a modern-day Auschwitz.
In America, we have so few real problems that when we have an epidemic of unhappy adolescents, we do not teach them to assume responsibility for their own happiness and equip them with a sense of agency.Instead, we debate at what age they should be allowed to amputate their healthy breasts, hoping this will make them feel better.Insanity is a mild term for the West right now.We must re-locate the wisdom of the ancients.Our insistence on perfect comfort, constant external validation, and total unanimity with every view we hold about ourselves and our precious “identities” is causing us to trade a priceless birthright for much less than a bowl of stew.This is a mistake that we do not have to make.We can stop. Now.
> And much of the right is seemingly fine with situations that create structural barriers to success. We are currently having a cultural conversation about student loans, the riskiest kind of debt—the kind that can never go away through bankruptcy—offered to people with the least experience in managing debt, with colleges subsidized by the government to over-promise and under-deliver, and consequences affecting only the student when the rigged system doesn’t work.
Ok, but what are "the right" supposed to do about it? They didn't keep bumping how much kids could take out in student loans, they certainly don't run the universities, and anything they did to try and ameliorate the problem would be shouted down as racist homophobia anti-trans whatever.
Does anyone other than the federal government even give out student loans anymore? I don't think suggesting they stop would go over well.
I don't think the current left would accept anything other than "all college everywhere is free".
A bit late on this post but i wanted to suggest 2 books on life in North Korea to readers - Escape from Camp 14,about a man born into a work camp that escapes, and Dear Leader, which is from the perspective of a NK counterintelligence agent who lives the 'good' life there for a while but is exposed to the contraband coming in which conflicts with him
Whatever gets you through while not harming others. Personally I find the philosophy daft.
When virtue becomes a self-sacrifice, do not expect men to be virtuous.
It is only within the confines of a truly civilized society where virtue is not a self-sacrifice. NK and China are, to be polite, not civilized.
THIS.
The Value of Suffering for Freedom
I love a quote that’s attributed to FDR: “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.”Our ancestors achieved a level of freedom previously unknown in human history, and from that has flown prosperity to an almost ludicrous degree.They wrote founding documents that, while flawed, laid the foundation for passing that freedom and prosperity on to us as a birthright.In the present moment, we appear to be shoving it away with both hands, and largely because we have such a distorted relationship with suffering.In North Korea, people worry about collecting enough shit to avoid being sent to a modern-day Auschwitz.
In America, we have so few real problems that when we have an epidemic of unhappy adolescents, we do not teach them to assume responsibility for their own happiness and equip them with a sense of agency.Instead, we debate at what age they should be allowed to amputate their healthy breasts, hoping this will make them feel better.Insanity is a mild term for the West right now.We must re-locate the wisdom of the ancients.Our insistence on perfect comfort, constant external validation, and total unanimity with every view we hold about ourselves and our precious “identities” is causing us to trade a priceless birthright for much less than a bowl of stew.This is a mistake that we do not have to make.We can stop. Now.
> And much of the right is seemingly fine with situations that create structural barriers to success. We are currently having a cultural conversation about student loans, the riskiest kind of debt—the kind that can never go away through bankruptcy—offered to people with the least experience in managing debt, with colleges subsidized by the government to over-promise and under-deliver, and consequences affecting only the student when the rigged system doesn’t work.
Ok, but what are "the right" supposed to do about it? They didn't keep bumping how much kids could take out in student loans, they certainly don't run the universities, and anything they did to try and ameliorate the problem would be shouted down as racist homophobia anti-trans whatever.
Does anyone other than the federal government even give out student loans anymore? I don't think suggesting they stop would go over well.
I don't think the current left would accept anything other than "all college everywhere is free".
A bit late on this post but i wanted to suggest 2 books on life in North Korea to readers - Escape from Camp 14,about a man born into a work camp that escapes, and Dear Leader, which is from the perspective of a NK counterintelligence agent who lives the 'good' life there for a while but is exposed to the contraband coming in which conflicts with him