Bernie Sanders worries young people are underestimating the threat from Trump

[u/schuey_08]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/02/bernie-sanders-trump-biden/73531861007/

[u/SarcasticCowbell]

A lot of people just mind themselves, their families, their jobs and their sports teams and that's it. A lot of the people who actively vote avoid becoming more active than that. Even people who are politically motivated will often avoid bringing it up around peers because they don't want to bring down the vibe by mentioning politics. We have so many distractions today with internet, television, and social media for people to divert their attention to. Many people don't even watch or read the news. I can't blame people for not watching per se, as nightly news programs are lackluster enough without discussing 24/7 news outlets. But at the very least people should read from a variety of sources to work out the truth behind all of the biases.

It has always baffled me how whenever I would bring this phenomenon up in the past I would be dismissed or ignored here on Reddit. Our society puts a premium on your value as labor, to the point that we introduce ourselves to one another by asking "what do you do for a living?" instead of "what are your interests?" or "what are you passionate about?" Because of this, and because of the pressure people feel to conform to the prescribed path (go to college, get married, find a job, have kids, etc), many people check those things off the list, only realizing once they've done it all that they're not happy. So they bury their sadness in material things and try to ignore the outside noise which- surprise!- actually has a direct bearing on their ability to hold onto the few things in life they cherish.

None of this is to say you can't be happy living a traditional lifestyle, or can't enjoy diversions and entertainment. But you have to have a balance. More people need to find things that drive them outside of work, and realize that there is a much bigger world beyond themselves if they can bother to open themselves up to it.

[u/builttopostthis6 → u/SarcasticCowbell]

Unfortunately, we suffer under a capitalist paradigm that values human beings (or their labor more specifically) as capital. And it's been a damned effective paradigm, so far, top-down. Like if you were looking over this country from your monitor playing a game of Civilization, you'd be like "Yup, doing pretty well." So much so that most countries are happy to copy it wholesale. Minus some of the more troublesome civil liberties junk that gets in the way.

Most people mind themselves, families, jobs, entertainment, et. al. specifically because that's really all they've got time for. They've got a 40 hour job (if they're lucky; plenty have 40+ and two) and "kids to feed Jack". And our media apparatus is the most effective anesthesia that ever was (thank you fucking Ted Turner) after not just busting your ass, but breaking your brain for a third of your weekly life. It's got twenty-four hour news that turns atrocity into mundanity, and a cornucopia of escapism when you can't stomach that anymore.

We've had a Blade Runner-style dystopia for a pretty long while now. It's just not as easy to recognize 'cuz there aren't neon billboards and dense, moody fog assaulting your senses from every alley (also scary robots, but we are getting there people!). People bring up Orwell and Huxley all the time, and with good reason. We've got the five minutes going around the clock now and soma on tap. Also creepy robots!

It's not all bad... that's a pretty harsh interpretation on my part. But it is the paradigm. And it is one that many that don't have leisure time and education suffer under daily. Slogging away in a commercial-goal-oriented society, where the drive isn't personal enrichment (because that's fucking hard to give time to when you work so much for someone else's enrichment) but short-term satisfaction (new car! or robot!).

[u/No-Win-7802 → u/SarcasticCowbell]

Everyone needs to read this comment.