Comments by "Harry Mills" (@harrymills2770) on "The Tocqueville Paradox: Why Does Discontent Rise as Societal Conditions Improve?" video.

  1. It's called the "Soap Opera Syndrome." Modern, stay-at-home housewives, with dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, automobile transportation, and the luxury of staying at home, have a lot more leisure time. Time enough to waste 2 hours a day (or more) watching Hollywood's idea of glamorous living, and they felt their lives were drab, by comparison to the rich and powerful career women on "Days of our Lives." It's weird how the 20th Century played out. Comfort = Discontent. In all seriousness, I think it's all about how high you are on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. When food, shelter, and clothing aren't a struggle, you have time to contemplate the meaning of life and examine your own life. Mass media and now social media give you endless of examples of people who are living more glamorously or prosperously than you. Comparison to that cultural projection of inordinate prosperity leaves you feeling left out. People with wealth and leisure time have entirely new things to worry about, like saving the planet, or looking for more fulfillment from their work. They're looking for self-actualization. "Is this all there is?" I think there's another aspect to this as well: As technology makes us more prosperous, we also have more crap to keep track of. Every business wants you to waste time with THEIR app and to fool around with THEIR rewards program. It's amazing all the different things that you can get sucked into wasting time on. All these labor-saving devices, and we working longer hours than ever before! Projecting forward into the post-scarcity era, with AI looming, people are going to be cared for, but they won't be able to find work... Or WILL they? Imagine if you had a guy who organized all your apps and managed all your different rewards programs at all the different stores, and on and on. I can see "life manager" becoming a trade until itself. "Let us worry about this. You go do what you want to do."
    3