Posted by alexandra_k on August 29, 2017, at 23:14:52
Yeah, that seems to be the volunteering situation here, too.
Some of our most powerful organisations seem to operate under the rubric of 'charity'.
They can't turn a profit, but can certainly invest in health property / real estate. Ambulances. Helecopters.
They can employ a bunch of people ('renumeration for your time').
They can get a bunch of people doing work for free - with the lure of future opportunities.
I think it is as hard to work your way up with charities as it is to work your way up with any business. Not sure how much you have to put up with not getting much in the way of anything done in order to start getting started... If they'll let you do anything...
__________I always have this thing. This sort of 'the truth will out' thing. This idea that people will get to know me eventually. The more I get to know people the more faith that I have that I have things of merit / value that aren't all that common... But then I worry more that the relevant people will never find me... Appreciate me for the strengths I have...
___________But I suppose I still have this thing about how it is better to be hated for what one is than loved for what one is not.
_______________________I went to this talk today that was weird. About Alzheimer's / Dementia. About how social embeddedness seems to be protective. About how there is some established survey thing that they use to assess whether people are lonely or not. How people who are lonely are badly off etc etc etc.
And it upsets me because I think that this line (along with 'cultural appropriateness') is used to justify practices like... Free range prisons. Where you don't get an individual cell but where you have to share with another person or where there aren't individual cells at all but you have to share with everyone. And the people can just... Beat each other to death, or whatever. Because that is the pro-social culturally appropriate way of things, you see.
And I think this line is used to justify practices like... Forcing elderly people into a similar set-up 'retirement village' where they don't even get their own bedroom... In exchange for all their assets, you see. Or the home / government takes some and the kids take some and the old person is... Happy. The studies show. Less demented. Judged by others to be.
_________________________The lonley thing is hard... Thinking about what that is about. How you can be lonley even though you have masses of people about you (whether it be online or IRL). It's about the *quality* of the relationship, of course.
_________________________These national science challenges are... Awful. Politics is... Awful. It's about power, I guess. Something for nothing. A whole bunch of people trying to get something for nothing.
The guy said something about social embeddedness. About how that was what made life worth living / meaningful. About how it was hard to see what on earth else could make your life worth living / meaningful when you were older. About how young people are driven by narcissistic goals like the accumulation of assets and the desire to have a family etc...
That's his view of life... Of what it's about...
Having a family is narcissistic...
I guess that's why so many people want to have them...
__________________________________Civilisation...
Is receeding...
I think his message was mostly that those of us concerned enough to be at the talk weren't really those people who were likely to be accused of Alzheimer's / Dementia later in life...
A bunch of adolescent puppies jostling about each trying to get their leg up to take delight in pissing over the other one - just because they can and that's what life is about...
I'm tired of here.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1094743
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20160906/msgs/1094743.html