pondering something heavy today.
ive seen 3 examples of widespread systemic corruption today, linking government and large corporations.
and the common denominator in all of them is the difficult truth that there is no “them” there is only us.
at a certain point, when there are so many people involved in the corruption, we have to face the reality that they aren’t corrupt, we are.
Harsh reality. Lot of dead growth. Cyclical. Not something pleasant to think about too much.
Reminds me of Chesterton's response to the question in a newspaper "What is wrong with the world"
"I am"
Man: no. I’ve worked hard, treated people well. Been fair with paying people I employ and fair with the clients I serve. I’m not corrupted. I’m imperfect yes, but I’m not free loading off others.
quit justifying yourself.
its boring, and retarded.
we are all responsible for what we let happen here.
Your disappointment is understandable. I just started a book you might enjoy called, Debt- The First 5,000 years. The state and capitalism have always been one and the same throughout recorded human history. We were born into incorrect assumptions/expectations. Think you’d enjoy the book.
Not sure how this kind of thinking helps address systemic corruption unless you're actively engaged in that kind of activity & this is an admission.
In the broad sense, yes, we (humanity) are good at doing dumb things. Making life harder than it needs to be. We realize maybe a quarter or 10% of our collective potential due to corruption of the state, corporations, propaganda, personal failings, etc. Organizational incentives are such that an intransigent minority can excel by sowing chaos & dysfunction - something appears throughout history.
This is applied philosophy/anthropology though & not particularly actionable. Unless my first sentence is operative.
Hard truth 💯
