Sometimes people will even, in all seriousness, say that we need suffering to produce good books and screenplays. Of course, this line of reasoning is in opposition to the ethics that Immanuel Kant set up for us, to treat every human being as an end in and of herself—never as a means for somebody or something else. It also breaks the older Golden Rule, to treat others as we ourselves would wish to be treated. Besides, it’s completely wrong, if you look at the facts. The Nordic countries have happy populations relative to others—and this appears to work in tandem with a highly functional and
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