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The notion of allowing aliens to vote negates the very idea of the nation and democracy. The participation of everyone in the exercise of power, in making political decisions affecting the whole, is possible only within a human ensemble possessing the same values, memories, and culture. A multi-racial, multi-confessional society can in no case be democratic, since it lacks commonly shared references. Such a society would be endemically oppressive and culminate in a caste system. - Why We Fight, Why We Fight: Manifesto of the European Resistance by Guilllaume Faye
An ethnically heterogeneous population — a kaleidoscope of communities — becomes an anonymous society, without soul, without solidarity, prone to incessant conflicts for domination,
People need to be allowed to make mistakes
I'm in the United States, we are all Americans first, race doesn't matter.
Four easy things you can do to make people happier, and why you don't do them.
There is a lot of research advice that, if you take it, should make you healthier, wealthier, or wiser… but not nearly as much that will make everyone around you happier. The exception is an uplifting string of work that suggests that making people happier is easier than we think. In fact you can make people happier right now, from your computer or phone (maybe finish the Substack article first?).
But if it is so easy, why don’t we do it? Because we are systematically wrong about how much of a difference our little gestures can make to other people, and also how hard these gestures are to make. In fact, the papers all find the same thing: we can make the world better, but we don’t because we think doing so will seem dumb or awkward or meaningless. And we are wrong to feel that way.
For example, appropriately enough for Thanksgiving week in the US, this paper shows we undervalue showing gratitude. We think it will be awkward, we think people know we are grateful, we think it won’t matter much. All of that is wrong. People who were asked to write letters of gratitude to other people overestimated the awkwardness of the experience, and underestimated the impact on the recipient’s mood and happiness. It also made the sender feel happier. So, the first way to make people happy: openly express gratitude towards others more. (Look, I know some of you are thinking this is super cheesy, in part because the research predicts you will find it cheesy. It isn’t! Try it!)
Relatedly, we aren’t as complimentary as we should be. Another paper shows that we don’t compliment people we know enough because we worry it will be unappreciated and awkward (are you starting to sense a theme here?). But “giving compliments in relationships makes both expressers and recipients feel more positive than they expect to feel.” In fact, the paper argues that we are not complimenting each other at nearly the optimal level, because we are afraid of it being awkward. So, the second lesson: genuinely compliment people you know more.
A third paper looks at a related topic: helping others. When a person needs help & all someone can do is provide a little assistance, rather than solving the entire problem, the helper is often reluctant to do anything because they think partial help will not be valued. Again, people really appreciate even small amounts of help. And part of the reason why is that the mere action of someone helping makes the person who needs help feel better, even if they can’t solve a problem completely. So the third way to make people happier is: offer to help people, even if you can’t completely solve the problem.
A fourth paper looks at spontaneous contacts, when we reach out to someone in our social circle who we may not have spoken to in a bit - to say “hi” or to catch up. We don’t do it enough, and (I know this will shock you!) the reason is because we think it will be akward and not appreciated. And, of course, as you might suspect, people really appreciate when someone in their social circle spontaneously reaches out to them, even if they aren’t a very close contact. Again, since we underestimate how much people appreciate spontaneous contact and don’t reach out enough.
So, there is no need to belabor the point further. You can make people (including yourself!) happier, and the reason you aren’t doing it is because you are stuck in your own head. So the research suggests a few small things you can do this Thanksgiving (or World Cup) week, to make the world a little bit better:
Express gratitude more
Give more genuine compliments to people you know
Don’t feel awkward about offering to help, even if you can’t solve the problem
Reach out to some old contacts and say “hi”
Science says it is okay, and not nearly as awkward as you think.
Nonsense. The only reason to have money/power is to get better sex and food.
This small-town farmer paid people's pharmacy bills for the past decade, and no one knew about it until after he passed away
This small-town farmer paid people's pharmacy bills for the past decade, and no one knew about it until after he passed away
ZUBY:
@ZubyMusic
The biggest problem in the West right now is many people no longer believe the future will be better than the past.
This demoralisation leads to cultural malaise. And then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
Shame people didn't inject themselves with optimism instead.
11:58 AM · Mar 7, 2023
gabbar says
Yet Chomsky repeated the lies about the vaxx, apparently without investigating anything for himself.
North Carolina church buys $3.3 million in medical debt for $15,000, cancels it, and then burns it
The Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem bought $3.3 million in medical debt in their surrounding area for pennies on the dollar, roughly $15 thousand, and then canceled it, freeing their communities from oppressive debts hanging over their heads.
Then they ceremonially burned the debt. ...
The Reverend John Jackman said,
It's sort of a real-world parable of what God does for us.
Do you got any pet/s?
They had problems but I adored them, I fixed their problems. One suffered from neglect another from abuse, took months to fix it.
So Rich and myself clearly ignored the OP title and went straight to death and bad things. Lol. I know Rich loved his dogs and I did mine, but it's hard taking any life and then you talk about dogs but don't currently have one yourself (myself). I won't for the foreseeable future. So my go to for whatever reason is negative. Dogs can be very uplifted depending how they connect with you.
It's a terrible thing, but you get a messed up screwed up dog by some asshole, you turn that around, and they are just that much better. They were bitter, resentful, frightened animals when I got them, after a few months, they thought they had left hell and entered heaven, because I protected them from any bad experience. It was definitely worth it.
Only the vaxx? LOL
Our first dog as a couple would sleep on my back at night. Chewy.
Eric Holder says
Only the vaxx? LOL
The Killing Fields are Capitalist Lies! Pol Pot dindu nuttin wrong!
f the US didn't support the Khmer Rouge, maybe 2 billion Cambodians wouldn't have died an early death. The US is doing this now in Ukraine. I bet the Ukrainian death toll is like 1 million.
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