Federal Reserve performance being measured by stock market increases? Boo. Extra Boo for having a literal economic neophyte defending the Fed.
Wages going up being touted as "good times", but ignoring the fact that real wage increases have been negative since at least May 2022? (It was positive in May 2023 only for Managers) Boo
And finally, any touting of a Pritzker is an automatic boo. Seriously, do people really have no idea what this family is, and more importantly, is not?
Hmm, I think it's impossible to respond to such a fundamental (seemingly deliberate) misunderstanding of the world we evolved in, the world we've built much more recently, and the difference between them, without being cruel. Or at least sarcastic. Well done.
Tell you what. I'll have a go at assuming you're just naïve, rather than deliberately excusing your own bad behaviour, and I'll explain it to you in all sincerity.
The "cruelty" being described here is a gut reaction that comes from something we usually call tribalism. This is something built into the mid-level brain functions (the so-called "monkey brain" that we share with other primates; and to be clear, I'm not talking about physical brain structures here, because biology is too messy for that — I'm talking functions that emerge as brains increase in size and complexity). A lot of our intuitive understanding of our social environment is in that layer: "He likes her, but she's shagging that other guy, but he's in a supposedly monogamous relationship with that other girl, who HATES the first girl for entirely unrelated reasons..." Our brains can track the connections between around 150 people, which happens to be about the maximum size a hunter-gatherer tribe reaches before splintering, both historically and in those few areas where such a culture still persists. In such an environment, a different tribe is a genuine threat, a competitor for resources. Hence fear and mistrust of The Other.
But in all the millennia since those days, since the invention of agriculture and shortly thereafter the invention of MONEY, that Othering circuit has essentially been worthless to the brain in which it resides. It has, however, been repeatedly hijacked by those that crave power (something that goes on in hunter-gatherer cultures too, and even in other primates), to turn the ever-larger "tribe" against people who are a threat to their power base, or who are weak and small enough (or geographically distant enough) to be a useful scapegoat while consolidating said power base.
The modern-day Others aren't a competitor for scarce resources. If you live in a first-world country, and think you're in a scarcity game with your neighbours, you've misunderstood capitalism. No, the modern day Others — your opponents, regardless of which side of any given "culture war" you think you fall on — are PART OF YOUR TRIBE. Ask yourself who's telling you they're a danger to your children, and what they stand to gain by convincing you of that. Engage those higher functions that are supposed to be more common in humans, think for yourself, and choose understanding over automatic mistrust. We have the cognitive capacity and the freedom from extreme resource constraints; what we usually lack is the will.
The Fed gets so much shit from all sides. Too fast! Too slow! How could you not see that inflation? How could you not understand that raising rates so fast would lead to bank failures?
Reminds me of literal children looking at a policeman's job and thinking about how easy and fun the whole job must be.
For next week you can write about the animal conservation efforts, there are a lot of optimistic results there :)
A trifecta of boo.
Federal Reserve performance being measured by stock market increases? Boo. Extra Boo for having a literal economic neophyte defending the Fed.
Wages going up being touted as "good times", but ignoring the fact that real wage increases have been negative since at least May 2022? (It was positive in May 2023 only for Managers) Boo
And finally, any touting of a Pritzker is an automatic boo. Seriously, do people really have no idea what this family is, and more importantly, is not?
Well, if it’s allowed our species to survive for 300,000 years, maybe it’s not all bad.
Hmm, I think it's impossible to respond to such a fundamental (seemingly deliberate) misunderstanding of the world we evolved in, the world we've built much more recently, and the difference between them, without being cruel. Or at least sarcastic. Well done.
Tell you what. I'll have a go at assuming you're just naïve, rather than deliberately excusing your own bad behaviour, and I'll explain it to you in all sincerity.
The "cruelty" being described here is a gut reaction that comes from something we usually call tribalism. This is something built into the mid-level brain functions (the so-called "monkey brain" that we share with other primates; and to be clear, I'm not talking about physical brain structures here, because biology is too messy for that — I'm talking functions that emerge as brains increase in size and complexity). A lot of our intuitive understanding of our social environment is in that layer: "He likes her, but she's shagging that other guy, but he's in a supposedly monogamous relationship with that other girl, who HATES the first girl for entirely unrelated reasons..." Our brains can track the connections between around 150 people, which happens to be about the maximum size a hunter-gatherer tribe reaches before splintering, both historically and in those few areas where such a culture still persists. In such an environment, a different tribe is a genuine threat, a competitor for resources. Hence fear and mistrust of The Other.
But in all the millennia since those days, since the invention of agriculture and shortly thereafter the invention of MONEY, that Othering circuit has essentially been worthless to the brain in which it resides. It has, however, been repeatedly hijacked by those that crave power (something that goes on in hunter-gatherer cultures too, and even in other primates), to turn the ever-larger "tribe" against people who are a threat to their power base, or who are weak and small enough (or geographically distant enough) to be a useful scapegoat while consolidating said power base.
The modern-day Others aren't a competitor for scarce resources. If you live in a first-world country, and think you're in a scarcity game with your neighbours, you've misunderstood capitalism. No, the modern day Others — your opponents, regardless of which side of any given "culture war" you think you fall on — are PART OF YOUR TRIBE. Ask yourself who's telling you they're a danger to your children, and what they stand to gain by convincing you of that. Engage those higher functions that are supposed to be more common in humans, think for yourself, and choose understanding over automatic mistrust. We have the cognitive capacity and the freedom from extreme resource constraints; what we usually lack is the will.
The Fed gets so much shit from all sides. Too fast! Too slow! How could you not see that inflation? How could you not understand that raising rates so fast would lead to bank failures?
Reminds me of literal children looking at a policeman's job and thinking about how easy and fun the whole job must be.
Happy 4th boys! Love the last one...go Cats!
I don't blame the Fed, I think it could have done much, much worse.