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September 27 - December 5, 2016
The main obstacle, for many people who have a very negative image of themselves and who adopt self-destructive behavior, also comes from the fact that, too often, the possibility of happiness has long been denied them.
Those who find themselves in that case cut down on their relationships with others. Even if they continue to work, they withdraw behind professionalism and bureaucracy to manage their social relationships in a purely formal way, devoid of any personal or emotional involvement.
Moreover, in the United States, Asian immigrants suffer as much from burnout as the white population, but black and Hispanic immigrants are clearly less affected.11
they avoid other people’s eyes, gazes which for them are too emotionally charged and hard to decipher.15
I have difficulty making eye contact. Maybe I'm somewhat autistic?
This is a type of morality that was spoken of earlier.
there is absolutely no evidence from animal behavior or human psychology to suggest that individuals of any species fight because of spontaneous internal stimulation.”67
Not spontaneous, but we violence is a mode in our genetics or internal programming that is triggered by external events or regulated and counteracted.
This point of view is also confirmed by the popularity of films that present human nature in a positive light, like The Tiger and the Snow, Groundhog Day, Amélie, Forrest Gump, and so on, far from the usual cynical view of existence.
The problem with violent shows and movies is they are easy to *create* so studios gravitate towards them because of high ROI
To that is added the repetitive aspect, which can make the player addicted.
This is pretty unsubstantiated.
feelings of unease and regret experienced when one recognizes having committed an action that goes against moral values stems from a lucid discernment and constitutes a driving force for transformation:
He thus finds himself confronted with a hopeless dilemma: either he overcomes his repugnance to kill, but acts against his conscience, or he does not fire at the enemy, but then feels guilty for abandoning his companions in arms, especially if some of them have not survived.
I imagine that for me my own comrades would have to take priority but it's like asking which aquaintance should die. You would naturally pick someone based on some reasoning but it's not a choice one should have to make.
If possible at all.
there were more suicides among veterans who returned from Iraq and Afghanistan than deaths in combat.
whoever wants to avoid killing at all costs is not content with saying to himself, “If it turns bad, I’ll take my rifle and settle the question.”
Aside from persecution, this process of devaluing can also lead to individuals being instrumentalized: humans become slaves, and animals become food products.
This isn't an absolute though. Some would rather die than continue in pain and some may truly have very low chances of recovery.
War implies states or organized hierarchies. No war doesn't mean no violence.
Even violence seen as "rare" (e.g. once a year) can mean a person has a high likelyhood of being killed rather than dying of old age.
By what definition? no war? but there are murderss? I don't follow the idea of "more realistic criteria".
Still it's important to know numbers.
Nevertheless, once a vision closer to reality has been re-established—namely that most primitive tribes stressed cooperation and peaceful cohabitation more than exploitation and aggressiveness—it would be just as wrong to give an idyllic vision of our ancestors.
deaths per what? year?
we live in incomparably greater safety than in the past.
This is a relative metric of violent deaths per 100,000 people per year and not absolute numbers.
most recent genocides could have been prevented by an appropriate intervention of peacekeeping forces.
According to some analysts, if in the United States the number of homicides—especially in the southern states—is ten to fifteen times higher than in Europe, it’s because democracy was established there before the nation disarmed the citizens, who maintained the right to bear arms.
But openness and freedom must be linked with altruistic motivation if we hope for them to result in social justice and in reducing inequalities instead of aggravating them.
This is evident in the "free speech" reditters and alt-right folks.
Like democracy, globalization should be learned and be accompanied by an increased maturity of citizens and governments, inspired not by thirst for gain, but by the spirit of cooperation and concern for the other’s fate.
For the effects of commerce between countries to be fully beneficial, it seems indispensable to stress the development of a truly equitable commerce.
According to the political scientist Virginia Fortna, the answer to the title of her book Does Peacekeeping Work? is a “clear and resounding yes.”
10% in Japan, Brazil, and Serbia.
Japan is not in good company
in developed countries, most crimes are committed by members of the poorest sectors of the population, who derive little security from the government that is supposed to protect them.
attempts to make slavery more “humane” in fact only contributed to prolonging it, whereas it was its abolition that was necessary.
Industrial breeding contributes to 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions linked to human activities,
60% of land available in the world is devoted to the breeding industry;
The breeding industry alone consumes 45% of all the water destined for production of food;
To obtain 1 calorie of beef by intensive breeding, 8 to 26 calories of plant food are required,
7 kilos of grains are necessary to produce 1 kilo of beef.
competition between man and livestock for the consumption of grains is accompanied by an increase of the price of grains, which has tragic consequences for the poorest populations.”
nitrous oxide, it is the most aggressive of greenhouse gases: 320 times more active than carbon dioxide.
Sixty-five percent of nitrous oxide emissions humans produce comes from livestock breeding.
WTF
25% of Americans still think today that there is no solid evidence proving that smoking kills.
What?!
life expectancy in the United States from forty-seven in 1900 to almost seventy-nine today.
This is pretty unbelievable but no doubt true.
Medicines are tested by the same people that make them, and not by independent scientific laboratories.
Drug companies spend astronomical sums each year on advertising to influence the therapeutic decisions of doctors—60 billion dollars a year in the United States alone,
companies spend astronomical sums each year on advertising to influence the therapeutic decisions of doctors—60
This is highly unethical and should be banned.
Medications should have no other reason for existing than their usefulness in the service of public health.
Yup.
