Stoney

What scares and disgusts me, instead, is this "technical" obsession with life and everything around it: it almost seems that the goal is to become a computer where you just have to click a button to get what you want: the button to make money, the one to get laid, and now even the one to produce ideas. It doesn’t work that way, I’m sorry. It’s absolutely aberrant that there are people who genuinely believe this is the recipe for a fulfilling life, and even if it were, it’s absurd that anyone thinks a manual like that could be of any use.

"We have a relationship with money that is subservient to the centuries gone by: MONEY IS EVIL, POWER CORRODES, BEHIND A GREAT FORTUNE THERE'S ALWAYS A GREAT CRIME." Yes, yes, how much nonsense are we taught, huh? And then you say, "Yet if we were to distribute wealth (monetary and otherwise) equitably, the very same wealth would, within ten years or less, RETURN EXACTLY TO THE HANDS OF THAT 4% OF THE POPULATION." And who knows how it would return: honestly, peacefully, without wars, massacres, genocides, coups, wars, torture, rather, with that 4% of gentlemen who would kindly ask, of course.

The expression "since time immemorial a poor person is unhappy" is quite bold. Cultural references have changed over time, and comparing the lives of people today and yesterday based on wealth is like trying to add apples and oranges: it's not done. To be happy TODAY requires money, but attempting to extend this principle to past eras is an act of cultural arrogance. It’s clear that, reasoning in extremes, dying of hunger today or in the Middle Ages is equally unhappy; however, there’s an intermediary zone that has been completely lost: being content with what one has. To do so today means being a loser, or "not believing in oneself," which is a thought of abominable arrogance. In practice, it strips away a person's dignity and only returns it as a reward for an effort that will never match expectations. And beyond how one may rationalize this concept privately, it remains a cultural precept ingrained in our DNA by society and education. And this is the true bigoted/christian/renunciatory mortification (in the modern sense of "Christian"): never feeling worthy or up to the task, having to strive to reach an ever higher ideal of perfection that will never come because we are imperfect and fallible. Wake up, Punisher, really.

To avoid misunderstandings, I didn't mean to be offensive; it's just that I feel a bit of anger when I hear people self-flagellating because they measure their determination by the economic success they've had or haven't had in life. It's a lack of respect towards oneself.

Here, Punisher, yours is the classic self-mortifying resentment that keeps this shit world standing, congratulations. Am I the only one who remains indifferent to such displays of monetary pride?

But, Giola, you must understand that if you tell DeLo that you were hit on the gums with a baton while demonstrating, he can only be pleased, because in his eyes that's how Democracy should be imposed. In Democracy, everyone must be happy and grateful, and anger and dissent are ugly, outdated things that don’t belong in an evolved and perfect world like ours. Democracy, in fact, is so good and right that it’s ridiculous to think anyone could be so dissatisfied as to become aggressive and violent. If they do, then they are simply a madman with some personal psychological issues who risks harming decent people, and they need to be brought back to reason. For their own good, let it be clear, for the good of all, in “support of the magnificent progressive fortunes of humanity.” Not exactly a walk in the park.

Look, a fascist or a communist is a thousand times better than you, De Lorenzo, because a fascist or a communist has made a choice; they clearly and straightforwardly express what they think in the extreme way they have chosen to adopt, and they don’t make excuses, they don’t hide behind a supposed aura of "moderation," "mediation," "democracy," "calmness" that you invoke every single time. I’ll tell you one thing: calmness, moderation, one either has it or doesn’t have it; you can’t express violent concepts and then say "I am moderate," it doesn’t work. In particular, one can’t claim to be moderate and then insinuate that people criticize "viscerally" only out of prejudice. This IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE of a moderate attitude. Besides being insidious, you are also somewhat lacking in intelligence. And don’t quote Pasolini, do me a favor; he called people like you "urban thugs."

I need to get this done as soon as possible.

@Fede, isn't it true that the Middle East, Brazil, are not suffering precisely because of our unsustainable development model that has led us to exploit the resources of those places, impoverishing them? Did you know that Africa was self-sufficient until a century ago? Who has worsened the living conditions of those populations? And have you noticed that in the Middle East, the population is in no way inclined to accept our market model (and therefore our way of life) that we are trying to impose on them by force? Are they all stupid? I complain, you bet I do, I have every right to do so in the face of those who want to tell me that there is respect for life and people today, because it is evident that they are only speaking about the little corner of the world they see from their home landing, and by the way, they see it poorly. Tell me, do the millions of immigrants invading Italy come here for fun? Who has devastated the ecosystems of their native lands where they once lived picking fruits from the trees? Where is this well-being you speak of? Moreover, as poverty rises in the West, with more and more people living below the poverty line even in Europe, where people lose their jobs just to make a couple of figures match on some budget, how can you claim such a thing? Maybe once a farmer risked starvation when the harvest was destroyed by rain and floods, but certainly the sheer human cruelty with which people are excluded from jobs today solely for calculations didn't exist. You recommend a trip to Brazil: I suggest one to the United States, go see how much well-being the Western model has brought there, where a third of the population cannot afford medical care. Seriously, what are we talking about?

Fantastic comment number 15. Rocco Tanica rules. :D