[Wintamute]

What do you mean? Are you suggesting that somehow modern people have lost the drive to violently compete for resources if they became critically scarce? That seems unlikely to me. I think the old phrase "There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy" is as true now as ever.

[shaan7]

Reminds me of

" Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people... will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes. "

https://www.quotes.net/mquote/861326

[iso1210]

DS9 had a lot of commentary. When someone asks why a democracy has such inequality, I think of Rom:

"You don't understand. Ferengi workers don't want to stop the exploitation. We want to find a way to become the exploiters"

[josalhor]

I had never heard that phrase. Very insightful.

[blfr]

I don't know about grandparent but I do think that we have become soft and accepting of circumstances our ancestors would not tolerate. How many people live pretty sad lives distracting themselves with toys, electronics, crappy content, and self-medicating with marijuana or even opiates.

There are even biological signs of this shift. Like dropping testosterone levels in men.

[sofixa]

> How many people live pretty sad lives distracting themselves with toys, electronics, crappy content, and self-medicating with marijuana or even opiates.

And how many people lived pretty sad lives being nothing more than serfs or farmers, without even the comfort of a distraction?

[baremetal]

Software engineer and a farmer here. distractions are overrated. i ditched mine and my life improved greatly. ive since learned that building and making things is much more fun than crappy electronics toys content or drugs. Passive entertainment is for the lazy and those that lack creativity. Try picking up a hobby like woodwork or blacksmithing. Having sampled all of those listed distractions extensively, i can say im qualified to make the assertion.

[sofixa]

And that's for you, not everybody is made of the same cloth, some might live for the distractions.

[jdmichal]

There's a huge gulf between "making things is a fun hobby" and "if I don't make things, I may not be able to eat / have shelter / clothe myself".

[kortilla]

“Rich person who farms for fun instead of to barely feed a family suggests farming is fun. News at 10.”

[scsilver]

Ive got a warm shower, a warm meal, dental, a roof over my head. Out ancestors would kill for the privilege of not having their children die from dysentery, Thier parents dying because your unrefrigerated food spoiled.

Enjoy a short brutal life with all that extra testosterone.

[Wintamute]

Not exactly sure that's how it works. I don't think there's any established correlation between low testosterone levels in males and comfortable lifestyles in society. I hope not, but it's possible the inverse maybe true. High testosterone drives males to compete for status, the by-product of which in human society is much of the complexity we see around us. Nobody really knows what happens to society when testosterone plummets - your warm meals and the roof over your head could be casualties of that.

[Dudeman112]

Lots of people throughout history lived their lives under other people's boots without fetching a stick and poking their oppressors eyes out

[andrepd]

The vast majority even.