I obviously have none, so I’d like to see if I can mooch off of you lol.

Please don’t leave any pessimistic top level comments. Or do, I’m not your mom 🤷‍♂️.

  • GardenGeek@europe.pub
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    7 hours ago

    Three Thoughts:

    1. In the long run, things have steadily improved for the majority of the world’s population. That doesn’t mean there can’t be setbacks along the way in the form of dictatorship and mass murder… but viewed over the long term, we’ve all become wealthier, healthier, and lived longer. Of course, this isn’t a sure thing, but it gives us hope that things will eventually be even better than they are now.
    2. Billionaires aren’t superhumans, even if they think they are. The fact is, capital doesn’t create anything. WE create value through the work of our hands and minds. Without us, these people are nothing, and even with the stochastic parrot currently being hailed as “AI,” they’re just fooling themselves. It follows that even the biggest narcissists don’t stand a chance when we work together… and if there’s one thing humans are good at, it’s that.
    3. People are much better than their reputation. If someone falls in a pedestrian zone, someone helps them up. If a traffic jam forms on the road, a rescue lane opens up. If you ask a stranger for help, you’re usually not let down. Far too many people believe that humans are “just animals with a thin veneer of civilization,” yet the vast majority are clearly more social and altruistic than is generally assumed. The narrative that “all people are bad” is, in my opinion, merely a self-serving narrative propagated by the ruling egoists to justify their own authority, and it’s passed on based on the assumption that we’re all just as selfish as our leaders.

    Are these points open to criticism? Sure. Still, there’s at least a spark of truth in them, and that gives me hope.

    • kaosterra@sh.itjust.works
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      4 hours ago

      Was gonna ask if you lived in Europe, then saw your instance hahaha. Here the rescue lane thing works but I have lived in other countries where it doesn’t happen at all. Though at least is not because people “don’t want to make room” but because driving is a nightmare and people usually pack very tightly in traffic jams as if that’s gonna make it any better. The madness of crowds…

    • Allero@lemmy.today
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      7 hours ago

      Yes! And especially the third point.

      Most people are good. We are divided and put against each other, and the important component of this is pitching that humans are terrible and evil. We are not!

      Think of all the random acts of kindness you see around. If you can’t recall them, go outside and start noticing. It can be someone giving directions to a stranger, freeing up a seat in public transport to those who need it more, helping someone carry something, giving a lift, offering a discount card at checkout (even if it doesn’t accumulate points), seeding flowers in communal areas, and just so, so much more.

      Look at how people care of their close ones, too. This is where people are allowed to care for the other without toxic boundaries stopping them. This is what people are really like.