Fading Dreams

>>I sometimes call the rich the modern aristocracy, because that's how they act.<<

I've done that too.

>>And I believe it's actually worse than it was in the Middle Ages.<<

Hmm ... for most of the American poor, it's not that bad. You have to go to Appalachia or the Indian reservations for that. But I think the gap is wider, because the high end has gotten higher. I'm sure the lordlings haven't figured out that stretching the rubber band farther will make it snap harder.

>>I'm not sure either concept really exists in today's selfish, conceited society of capitalism gone mad. Today it seems that the principle of using and abusing those less fortunate is rarely countered by other, more savoury priciples.<<

I've been thinking about this, and it actually goes farther. America teaches greed as a virtue. I bought some chicken nuggets the other day and the carton was actually plastered with slogans telling you to keep them all to yourself and not share with friends who wanted some. I was appalled. *ponder* I also gave the last two to my partner.

For all the snide remarks about how bad socialism is, America seems bound and determined to demonstrate the flaws of capitalism gone made, precisely as described in the socialist and communist diatribes against capitalism.

*sigh* Which only shows what historians have known all along: any political system bigger than a tribe or a clan will turn obnoxious after human beings have been added to it. We simply haven't come up with a large system that can cope with people's desire to shaft one another. Some are better than others, but all of them fall apart eventually.

>>The responsibility that should come with money and power, the duty the rich and powerful have to society as a whole because of their wealth and power, is mostly forgotten.<<

I am disturbingly reminded of the sequence in Spiderman that began at "With great power comes great responsibility," went through "I'm sorry, I missed the part where that's my problem," and ended with a fatality.


>>Sure, medieval nobles frequently misused and abused the common folk, but what do you call sending troops to fight a voluntary, never-ending war for no justifiable reason? What do you call ignoring the sorry state of the common folk while continuing to line the pockets of the well-to-do, the same greedy, irresponsible bastards that were responsible for the sorry state to begin with?<<

History repeating itself.

>>Or maybe we just haven't advanced nearly as far as we think. Perhaps we are more like our medieval ancestors than we would like to think.<<

This is probably the case.

>>Heck, usury was seen as a sin, but now it's standard operating procedure.<<

Eh, that's a point. I don't know how many times God has warned people about that one, but it never seems to last. Maybe the Muslims will have better luck with their halal mortgages.

>>Not to mention, I think a lot of the material things of American society are just a sophisticated form of circus, as in "bread and circuses" (mixing up my historical periods a bit).<<

I can't remember the last time I watched the news without grumbling "bread and circuses." I don't watch it much anymore, just when I'm out somewhere and walk past it.

>>Rome did indeed fall in the end.<<

Too true. I am further reminded of the lead in Roman pipes and jar seals, and the toxic substances the corporations are putting into American food.

Some things that we know are bad for us, such as high fructose corn syrup, or actively toxic such as PHBs, are added to food or put in places where they can leach into food.

Despite that, I suspect that a majority of the damage is indeed caused by substances in an area of ignorance. That's because only about 200 of the tens of thousands of chemicals used in America have ever been fully tested for safety. Most are assumed safe until proven otherwise, which is insane, but that does make it difficult to avoid dangerous ones. Another thing that is almost never tested, but is suspected of contributing to cancer and allergies and immunodeficiency diseases, are the interactions between the thousands of chemicals dousing our world. That reminds me very much of the Smile-X in the Batman movie.

I think a key problem is people are paid on one scale but charged on another, much higher scale. It happens with health care, where someone can charge you more than you could make in a year for a day's care -- or just let you suffer and die if you don't have the money. It happens with housing, where you pay whatever is demanded or get kicked out (or send the bank some jingle mail). That's a severe problem.