Log in

View Full Version : Anxiety Culture


Punk_Rocker_22
2008-12-20, 00:37
http://www.anxietyculture.com/contents.htm

Cool little website I found about work and happiness and how you shouldn't be a slave to society and what not.

My favorite part:
Person says: "I deserve this vacation."
What they are really saying is that they deserve happiness.
But to say you deserve happiness is to imply that you earned it, which is to say that happiness is something that much be earned. So how much misery/work/suffering is required before you have earned the right to be happy?
Why not just be happy all the time?

The site also has a lot of info about how to stop worrying about stupid shit like what people think of you, stop feeling guilty about things when you shouldn't, and things like that. As well as a bunch of statistics about work/life such as "People who work over 48 hours per week have double the risk of heart disease"

I like the site and have been exploring it for a few hours now. Very much my kind of thing (chill out, enjoy life). I hope you guys like it.

Defect
2008-12-21, 00:21
I like it, but the argument about vacation = happiness seems to be bullshit. What seems to be a more benevolent reasoning behind that statement is this:

For the most part, everyone has an obligation at their job to complete assignments and just do stuff in general.

Since everyone doesn't attend work to be happy, to be happy in place of work's obligations is a privilege, and privileges are generally to be earned. So, vacation being a privilege, "I've earned a vacation" or "I've earned the right to be happy (in place of work)" makes sense. Am I wrong?

vazilizaitsev89
2008-12-21, 00:48
People have to find happiness on their own. A vacation =/= Happiness. As someone said, if you're happy at work, its not really work. I've been lucky and I've found a job like that

Martian Luger King
2008-12-21, 02:12
A vacation =/= Happiness.

I couldn't agree more. I hate vacations, getting out of the mix of things, abandoning my home. This of course excludes exploring parts of the world.

killallthewhiteman
2008-12-21, 07:17
People have to find happiness on their own. A vacation =/= Happiness. As someone said, if you're happy at work, its not really work. I've been lucky and I've found a job like that

That is assuming that your job defines your happiness in totality as well as neglecting setting.

Most people these days choose their setting because of their job (or that has a large influence at least).

For example someone could be completely satisfied with their job but may have more inner-peace in a "natural" setting but had to sacrifice this and move to a city for a job, although its arguable that a person who enjoys a natural setting wants a job revolving around nature and therefore will live in a natural setting, but in practicality not possible sometimes because of urbanization and centralization of the tools of production.

So it is conclude that a person who thoroughly enjoys there job still needs a vacation to feel "happy", although any material happiness really is just a euphemism of suffering.

OP; thankyou!

LiquidIce
2008-12-21, 18:56
If we introduce more ecological and economical windows, people will just buy bigger windows. If you earn more cash, you will just buy a bigger home.
And you're gonna work your ass off for these things.

Why not only use that which you need? If you don't need a bigger home, you won't have to work more on that. The surplus hours can be turned into cash via work and than into luxury stuff (books, games) or they can be just free hours for said luxury stuff.

Strapping Young Lad
2008-12-22, 17:27
Popped in to say thanks for the link. Had an interesting read.

It really is quite interesting how people have become so depressed yet are nearly incapable to come out of it.