Monday, March 09, 2015
Not a contrast
This contrast on the BBC website slapped me in the face.
First thought: Classic example. Monstrous aristocratic superrich Applesatanfags vs normal humans. Applesatanfags can afford $10k watches, ordinary humans go without heat.
Second thought after reading the whole story: No, it's not really a classic example. This ordinary man is suffering, but he's not suffering all that much. His problem is not lack of heat, but a badly managed Housing Authority which failed to fix his central heating. He has a nice apartment and electric heaters. He should stop whining.
Similar stories pop up often. An oldster is supposedly working because SS doesn't cover expenses. On reading the whole story, turns out he could survive quite well but loves being around people, so he works as a WalMart greeter. Good for him, but we shouldn't be invited to spend our scarce sympathy on him.
The real suffering happens below the media's event horizon, happens to people who don't get interviewed. That's the real contrast. Stories the media feeds us, versus stories we never hear about until a pile of stuff gets run over.
Later: Amazingly, BBC redeemed itself with this clip on NYC homelessness, which has reached a historic maximum. Instead of interviewing the usual idiot economists, BBC let the real humans define their situation. At the end of the clip one "pile of stuff" conclusively sums up the condition of USA STRONG. Swap him with Janet Yellen and we might start to turn things around.
This contrast on the BBC website slapped me in the face.
First thought: Classic example. Monstrous aristocratic superrich Applesatanfags vs normal humans. Applesatanfags can afford $10k watches, ordinary humans go without heat.
Second thought after reading the whole story: No, it's not really a classic example. This ordinary man is suffering, but he's not suffering all that much. His problem is not lack of heat, but a badly managed Housing Authority which failed to fix his central heating. He has a nice apartment and electric heaters. He should stop whining.
Similar stories pop up often. An oldster is supposedly working because SS doesn't cover expenses. On reading the whole story, turns out he could survive quite well but loves being around people, so he works as a WalMart greeter. Good for him, but we shouldn't be invited to spend our scarce sympathy on him.
The real suffering happens below the media's event horizon, happens to people who don't get interviewed. That's the real contrast. Stories the media feeds us, versus stories we never hear about until a pile of stuff gets run over.
Later: Amazingly, BBC redeemed itself with this clip on NYC homelessness, which has reached a historic maximum. Instead of interviewing the usual idiot economists, BBC let the real humans define their situation. At the end of the clip one "pile of stuff" conclusively sums up the condition of USA STRONG. Swap him with Janet Yellen and we might start to turn things around.Labels: STRONG!
¶ 3:44 PM
