I was looking at a couple of posts that express feelings of exhaustion and isolation that are extremely prevalent in modern life. And in the comments are people talking about how they’re able to deal with those pressures. I don’t think that’s a real solution to the stated problems. The real solution is replacing the system that demands an exhausting and isolating existence for so many in order to maintain itself.
When someone says he feels alone, it’s not helpful to recommend social clubs because the real problem is all the ways modern society inhibits community building and a lot of minor social interaction. When someone says he doesn’t feel like he has time to take care of her physical health, it’s not helpful to show your schedule to fit it into the busy day because the real solution is having more time available which is only possible if we change modern work culture.
Yes, it’s possible for individuals within almost any system to find a stasis where you’re able to fulfill your basic mental, social, and physical needs. It’s even possible for individuals to thrive. But your solutions only work for you and maybe those with similar material conditions AND cognitive predispositions. Otherwise you’re just making excuses for the level of harm modern capitalism places on people everyday.
Take care of yourself and resist where you can.
This reads more like a complaint about capitalism, and not on the people making suggestions on other people’s posts. i.e. you’re using a straw man fallacy to argue against capitalism by using people giving advice to others as the vehicle.
But, giving you the benefit of the doubt here, I’d like to point out that people are social by nature. We thrive on some form of interconnectedness with other people. We also like to help others, if we can. So it stands to reason that if we see someone having similar troubles to us, we will reach out and offer suggestions that we’ve found to be successful (yes, to ourselves). And unless the poster simply wants to rant, without seeking guidance for their situation, they should clearly set that expectation in their posts. Another solution that’s worked for me in the past (😉) is to ignore advice that I feel is irrelevant and move on.
I don’t think I’m using a straw man to argue against capitalism. I think I’m using the assumption that capitalism is the main problem to argue against a straw man.
Also, there’s a difference between offering remedies on a forum where that’s expected and responding to a meme about how there’s not enough time in the day with your personal rigid schedule for everything. I’m talking about the latter though I might not have expressed it very clearly.
Regardless of intention, thank you for taking the time to give me a thoughtful response. While I was not trying my come off as attacking you for your post, I would have understood if you had taken it that way. And if I did offend you, I offer my sincerest apologies. 😊