On quality of life:

 On quality of life:

This Reddit post was recently linked in the Best Of subreddit on Americans and their total disregard for quality of life:

https://www.reddit.com/r/medicine/comments/1hqy2p0/uncomfortable_discussion_end_of_life_and_futile/m4totaj/

If you don't want to bother reading it, it's about how Americans don't consider how well their life is lived, they just work and suffer through it. All things are given monetary value and anything that doesn't create value is therefore valueless. It reminded me of brutalist architecture, where function is put above all else, and nothing is decorated. Perhaps there's more to brutalism than I'm giving it credit, but so much of what our lives revolve around is creating value for ourselves and others.

But then there's art. Art, to be art, has no inherent value. It's words on a page or paint on a canvas. Sure there's business around it, but the value is not something you can weigh, count, or exchange. It has meaning to people that is not inherent to the object. In a world where everything needs a value, creating something without value is an act of rebellion.

So the world would be a better place if we didn't work so hard to make things that were worth money. Be a rebel and do something that doesn't contribute to the economy. Tell people nice things about them. Create beauty. Spread joy. In a world obsessed with value, fight back by not giving any to those who demand it. You just might be starting a revolution.

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