Quote: (11-20-2013 10:51 AM)Consul Wrote:
They are so unhappy because the process of becoming affluent, leisurely, and privileged have two effects: first, affluent and privileged humans no longer feel compelled by external circumstances to serve any larger purpose (such as God, the state, etc.); second, as a result of this, they become utterly and completely selfish -- obsessing over their looks, status, material possessions, and other fleeting aspects of life. They lose any sense of honor or self-sacrifice for something larger than themselves, which is an essential ingredient in being truly happy (or self-actualized, to use Maslow's word).
I think back on the wealthy people I've known, and they were far more likely to obsess over inane things like whether their cabinets were "up to date" or their yard was as well-manicured as the one next door. Their lives were so comfortable and easy that it made them miserable. Affluent women in particular are more likely to fall prey to these attitudes.
Gregg Easterbrook's book The Progress Paradox documents this phenomenon. The more wealthy and leisurely the culture becomes, the more the happiness of the population drops as measured by psychologists' happiness surveys. We live in the wealthiest, most privileged society in world history, so it is no surprise that we are seeing the extremes of these effects.
I cosign this 100%. Consider the following personal anecdote:
I've lived all over L.A. for the past 13 years. On average, I move once a year, usually for work. I don't see myself moving from my current spot anytime soon as I really love it here.
My last apartment was in West Hollywood. It was an extremely affluent neighborhood less than a block away from Sunset Blvd. I still work over there. In West Hollywood, houses are landscaped and manicured to a T. Everything is physically very beautiful. BMWs and Mercedes are probably the two most common cars on the road. The grocery store options are Whole Foods (not really west hollywood but close enough) Trader Joe's, Gelson's (a very upscale market) and Pavillion's. Especially with Whole Foods and Gelson's, the people that shop there are without fail in some sort of hurry and seem pretty miserable. On weekends, West Hollywood thrives when the gay bars go apeshit and the party spills into the street, unleashing a horde of gay partygoers to puke in the street, get in fights, make out in back alleys and god knows what else. Scratch that, it's not just weekends, it's pretty much every day. They party like college kids who got their first taste of liquor. Almost every. single. day. There are huge amounts of women that are only too happy to join in these binge drinking habits. Children are scarce and when you do see them it's usually in a stroller being pushed by a Mexican or Central American nanny. People drive extremely aggressively and noone is particularly friendly.
Now let's contrast that to my new neighborhood. I moved here back in February or March. It's in a Mexican working class neighborhood. A few blocks south of here things get a little rough, but not that bad. I'd say my current neighborhood is about 50% latino, 30% asian, and 20% white. Lawns are not manicured. There are some delapidated buildings with piles of crap in the front lawn. There are some nice old buildings that need a little TLC but they've got character. There's a lot of minivans and trucks, being driven by Mexican contractors and construction workers. The main grocery store is Ralph's. As soon as I started shopping there, I was SHOCKED at how polite and nice everyone was. The checkout cashiers are genuinely friendly. There are groups of people in the store chatting and there's a much more relaxed vibe. There are many times I go there and I'm the only white person. On weekends, families get together and throw massive parties and barbecues. They hire live Mariachi bands and rent out entire sections of the nearby park. There are kids EVERYWHERE, being tended to by their own parents. People are dressed "normally", and everywhere you look there are husbands with their wives, boyfriends with their girlfriends, holding hands, being affectionate in public. There are no women with short, multicolored hair. I'm not trying to say they're attractive (they're mostly fat), but there isn't this incessant need to "be different" or "stand out". There's isn't the same desperate desire to showcase some manufactured individuality.
I feel at home in my own neighborhood, and English isn't even the first language here. I feel more at home around these people than around white people on the west side. There's this mantra in L.A. of "being yourself" and it's anything but true. People feel the need to express their identity through cutting edge-fashion and trendy hairstyles, which only reinforces their lack of identity. It's only when you get to the middle and lower income areas that you find people really "being themselves".