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NYC: Death of a Once Great City

No way you all are this dense. That brief piece just says what I said, "Sure competitive humans in competitive societies who have to compete to survive are competitive. But that’s not a consistent human trait across time."

Look at the opening quote. "It’s said that when chased by a bear, you don’t need to outrun the bear; you just need to outrun your friend. Similarly, to win a championship, a promotion, or a date, you need only to beat the immediate competition, whether a team, a colleague, or a fellow suitor."

We've created a competitive society that forces people to compete. The bear of poverty is chasing us and we're all trying to outrun our friends. Think about it like this. Man A sits down in a park to eat lunch. Man B sits down next to him. Man A is just trying to eat. Man B steals his food. Man A chases him to get it back.

Man A wasn't being competitive. He was just eating. Man B was competitive and stole his food. Man A had to compete to get it back. All it takes is one asshole to turn life into a competition.
 
there is nothing in that article that explains whether or not that is learned behavior, nor does it seem to study cultures outside the United States

plenty of examples of "natural" collaborative behavior too, e.g. parent-child,
 
Couple good points from Juice and PH that i think reflect the general idea in ABCs of Socialism essay titled "Socialism sounds good in theory, but doesn't human nature make it impossible to realize"

“Good in theory, bad in practice.” People who profess interest in socialism and the idea of a society without exploitation and hierarchy are often met with this dismissive reply. Sure, the concept sounds nice, but people aren’t very nice, right? Isn’t capitalism much more suited to human nature — a nature dominated by competitiveness and venality?

Socialists don’t believe these truisms. They don’t view history as a mere chronicle of cruelty and selfishness. They also see countless acts of empathy, reciprocity, and love. People are complex: they do unspeakable things, but they also engage in remarkable acts of kindness and, even in difficult situations, show deep regard for others.

This does not mean that we’re plastic —that there is no such thing as human nature. Progressives do sometimes make this claim, often arguing with those who see people as walking, talking utility-maximizers.
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PhDeac said:
Too many people get wrapped up in the allure of big city life. Housing isn’t truly the commodity in these areas. The life is.
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For sake of this discussion, "the allure of the big city life" is a straw man. The crux of the housing shortage are low income city residents being pushed out of the city where they already live, where their familes are, where they work low wage jobs. This thread has a very "Wake Forest" spin, where everyone here seems to be interpreting the problem as young college kids suddenly not being able to find an apartment in the trendy city. That is not the problem.
 
If the “allure of big city life” is a straw man, what explains the difference in the price of housing in NYC compared to Winston-Salem?
 
PhDeac said:
If the “allure of big city life” is a straw man, what explains the difference in the price of housing in NYC compared to Winston-Salem?
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Y'all need to learn what a fucking strawman is already. Jesus Christ
 
PhDeac said:
If the “allure of big city life” is a straw man, what explains the difference in the price of housing in NYC compared to Winston-Salem?
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? Wut?

I'm saying that no one here, to my knowledge, is advocating socialism on behalf of people seeking the "allure of big city life". You're refuting an argument that no one is making.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
? Wut?

I'm saying that no one here, to my knowledge, is advocating socialism on behalf of people seeking the "allure of big city life". You're refuting an argument that no one is making.
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No. You're refuting an argument I didn't make.
 
PhDeac said:
No way you all are this dense. That brief piece just says what I said, "Sure competitive humans in competitive societies who have to compete to survive are competitive. But that’s not a consistent human trait across time."

Look at the opening quote. "It’s said that when chased by a bear, you don’t need to outrun the bear; you just need to outrun your friend. Similarly, to win a championship, a promotion, or a date, you need only to beat the immediate competition, whether a team, a colleague, or a fellow suitor."

We've created a competitive society that forces people to compete. The bear of poverty is chasing us and we're all trying to outrun our friends. Think about it like this. Man A sits down in a park to eat lunch. Man B sits down next to him. Man A is just trying to eat. Man B steals his food. Man A chases him to get it back.

Man A wasn't being competitive. He was just eating. Man B was competitive and stole his food. Man A had to compete to get it back. All it takes is one asshole to turn life into a competition.
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You don’t think the desire to find the best mate/date and reproduce with that person is a natural trait of humanity or animals in general. This Forms the very basis of the competitive evolution of life itself.

Bro take the L your not this dumb.
 
WFcatamount22 said:
You don’t think the desire to find the best mate/date and reproduce with that person is a natural trait of humanity or animals in general. This Forms the very basis of the competitive evolution of life itself.

Bro take the L your not this dumb.
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Most people would rather get laid without competing for it.
 
The only way to weed out or stop the competitive assholes in a society is through a totalitarian state. Thus the reason for so many failed attempts at socialism.
 
human beings have consciousness, it allows us self-awareness and the ability to reflect on our actions, develop morality, have friendship, etc.

we do billions of things every day that don't have to do with evolutionary advancement
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
human beings have consciousness, it allows us self-awareness and the ability to reflect on our actions, develop morality, have friendship, etc.

we do billions of things every day that don't have to do with evolutionary advancement
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We do billions of things every day but have never created a successful socialist/communist state, that’s weird.
 
i dunno, the old people of the great nation sure seem to like social security, medicare and fire departments
 
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