The US is a nation founded by rebels that defines itself as "not Europe". That's why their AC is 110 V / 60 Hz, temperature is Fahrenheit, octane number is AKI, gasoline is black and diesel is green, units are imperial, standards are different, the left is blue and the right is red, etc.
it doesn't feed people, it doesn't house people, it doesn't power mechanisms
That's not the purpose of money. He just listed the seven necessary attributes of money and these were not included for good reason. Money needs to just sit there and do nothing until it can be exchanged for food, housing or powering mechanisms at a suitable time. That's the whole point and nothing sits there and holds value like gold. You can throw it in the ocean for 500 years and it'll come out looking pristine and even more valuable.
it's only value is the fact that it has value, and everyone else assigns it value
Everything has value because people assign it value. Food and housing only have value because people need them to survive, if they didn't they'd be worthless. They serve a purpose which makes them valuable, just like gold.
Feel free to barter if the concept of money goes over your head but it's very difficult and cumbersome which is why money was invented in the first place.
You'd think the highest number of suicides would happen in November or something but I've read it's actually May. It's finally sunny and warm, everyone is out enjoying themselves and having fun but to suicidal people it's like rubbing it in.
I’m hopeful the man gets the help and services he clearly needs
A good example of toxic femininity: everyone needs to be babied, even violent criminals who have personally attacked her. What he needs is hard time behind bars for assault.
I would also argue that is harder to be happy.
While it's harder to hit the highest highs, the general sense of wellbeing is better for me now than it was in my teens and twenties. Even with gaming, I thought everything sucked because I was getting old but then Wasteland 3, Baldur's Gate 3 and Rogue Trader came out and I was hooked like it was 2005.
I'm in my late 30s and I'd feel great if it wasn't for a pesky intestinal inflammation. I have a healthy low stress lifestyle though, some party people and overworked fathers I know are looking rough. Cyclists and lifters only reach their peak in their 30s and 40s, it's the explosive speed that goes first.
More than health issues, I'm noticing a distinct drop in the eagerness to socialize in my cohort, whether they have children or not. I remember thinking back in 2016: "My friend group hasn't met up for three weeks, what's going on?" Oh sweet summer child, I'm lucky to see those people once a year now. Covid likely played a part in that though.
Same with Imperial. It's just a better system.
You had me in the first half, not gonna lie. Be honest, the US only uses that medieval system because it has to be different from Europe and the rest of the world in every way it possibly can. Same for Fahrenheit, AC voltage and frequency, AKI fuel octane number, UL standards, etc.
We get it, you're not Europe anymore but you can relax and stop torturing yourselves now because it's been 500 years. People have died because you can't properly convert the units the rest of the world uses into whatever convoluted mess you came up with.
It's written by a historian who, after years of research, came to the conclusion that human history is so violent, evil, distorted and mysterious that there must be a hidden external force playing divide and conquer with us, trying to achieve full control. It then speculates on who or what that external force might be based on historical evidence. Excellent reading if you're into esoteric subjects.
I recently finished Gods of Eden by William Bramley and I'm not reading anything at the moment.
Could have fit a few more paragraphs in there.