Mullin's recent activity
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
Mullin Link ParentI think it's framed that this is one of many things keeping Africans, of Ghana and similar nations that have this practice, poor. Not that it's the reason they are poor, but it's something that...I think it's framed that this is one of many things keeping Africans, of Ghana and similar nations that have this practice, poor. Not that it's the reason they are poor, but it's something that keeps destroying the ability for families to spend on other, more productive things. I can see posts on Reddit in /r/Ghana lamenting the practice, and from cursory searches, it's not even something that has historical precedence in their culture, it's a modern practice, something that has more or less appeared organically. I think that's why it's important to look at it and the culture surrounding it. You can read anecdotes from many insular communities where the in-group is prioritized, whether that be money lending, jobs, etc, and it oftentimes even if it has some protective effects, it also ends up with too many negative externalities, compared to what we'd consider "typical". A place like Kiryas Joel for example, where the children can't and don't speak English, and are woefully unprepared for any society that isn't Hasidic, and those kids don't have an option to choose where they are born or the community they are raised in. It's not a good look. So there's always trade-offs, there's always reasons cultures develop practices that on paper don't seem to make a lot of sense, but I don't think it's wrong to point to the ways in which they might be detrimental to those communities.
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Comment on How funerals keep Africa poor in ~life
Mullin Link ParentI don't think the author was framing everything as funerals are the end all be all cause of Africa's economic woes, or even that kinship societies necessarily doomed to economic poverty. But...I don't think the author was framing everything as funerals are the end all be all cause of Africa's economic woes, or even that kinship societies necessarily doomed to economic poverty. But surely we can point to cultural practices that don't contribute much to the overall betterment of the communities they happen in as a negative that should be looked at, right? All this money on a funeral is money that could go into infrastructure, or healthcare, or anything else that's productive or a better use of that capital. I think that yes, individual choice and economic prosperity is something we in the West prioritize, and I'm ok with thinking some of that are universal moral goods. I also vehemently disagree with practices of forced marriage, female genital mutilation etc. I think it's a bit ridiculous to have to caveat every criticism of something with "Colonialism may have been responsible for some of these woes", I don't think it's really adding much value. It's not about absolution it's about focusing on something in particular, without necessarily attributing blame, no?
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Comment on Four things to know about the newly approved US sunscreen ingredient in ~health
Mullin LinkInteresting, I've tried the Korean brands(bought when I was on vacation there) but honestly I still going the La Roche Posay to be by far the best, it was also one of the few that met/exceeded the...Interesting, I've tried the Korean brands(bought when I was on vacation there) but honestly I still going the La Roche Posay to be by far the best, it was also one of the few that met/exceeded the SPF rating in that Australian study, was it still avebenzone?
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Comment on When did you realize you were different? in ~talk
Mullin Link ParentI can relate a bit, at least for me I work/have worked in healthcare for the better part of two decades, oftentimes I cause friction at work because I always ask before I get started on any...I can relate a bit, at least for me I work/have worked in healthcare for the better part of two decades, oftentimes I cause friction at work because I always ask before I get started on any project basically what is the value or impact, and whether it's necessary or not to spend the resources, because at least on my end, the dollars are not infinite, and time spent pursuing something worthless is money that could have gone to patients. I've always felt this way, but often people get too in the weeds or are focused solely on the departmental picture, as you said: the small tube.
I have a phrase I use a lot at work, and is another where I get pushback usually in the form of "we're paid to do work/something", which is that doing nothing is always an option, and often times a valuable one. Because very frequently you can try to improve something and make it worse, or you can move one needle but totally fuck up another. In healthcare very many metrics have mechanical connections, so when someone says "we want to reduce readmissions and also length of stay" and I have to retort "these measures have a non-zero amount of negative correlation, since a day before discharge is a day that patient could or would have readmitted but can't" I'm looked at like some kind of psycho, of course we have to work to reduce both metrics, of course we want to try to intervene in a way to do that, but then it's trying to get blood from a stone, and you waste a lot of resources if you were already at a local maxima.
I'm actually changing teams right now, in my two weeks with my current role, because I could not make my personality and seriousness jive with my manager/team, I was too frustrated that I thought we weren't acting quickly enough or that it'd take too long to make decisions -_-
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Comment on When did you realize you were different? in ~talk
Mullin LinkWell, this is an interesting one......I guess, as soon as I started school it became really obvious, should have been more obvious in hindsight. I was already fully literate before kindergarten,...Well, this is an interesting one......I guess, as soon as I started school it became really obvious, should have been more obvious in hindsight.
I was already fully literate before kindergarten, and could read novels and understand them at least somewhat, I wouldn't struggle with words or sentence structure or grammar, and anything I didn't know I learned to look up. I also learned math rather quickly and would get perfect scores on tests etc. I was quickly identified as gifted and moved into the programs that took me out of classes with my peers, so when there's only 5 of you in the cohort.....you can't really think you're like the other kids when you are being given special treatment. We would go off campus for special classes at the university or at NASA here, it was a lot of fun. I also went to a specific gifted middle school.
So that's one thing, but even in middle school I started to realize I wasn't quite like some of my peers that were very academically minded, or anxious about grades or college or similar. I was pretty relaxed, I guess some of it was just confidence? I'd already been interacting with adults, I had a reasonable idea of the working world from my parents, I was good at interpersonal communication. In High school and later college, I no longer really cares about academics, puberty definitely hit me pretty hard, exacerbating some of my less desirable traits.
I am like single digit percentage agreeable, I lioe arguing, I love playing devil's advocate. This has caused..... numerous issues that really started to fray at teachers/faculty especially once I was older and more developed, I was no longer a cute precocious boy, I was a difficult and stubborn young man. You're treated a lot differently, high school and college are less about learning per se and more about conscientiousness, which I also lack. It took me a long time to more or less tame my personality, get used to my own biochemistry and develop good habits.
I guess, I always feel a bit different, a lot of the stories here, especially experiences of other gifted burnouts.....I can't really relate because I never got burned out, I'm also definitely not autistic, I don't struggle to communicate, maintain eye contact, or empathize or understand others. Any friction I cause is because I wanted to, when I want to be mean I'm mean. I can be a difficult person to work with because I am so serious, I sometimes feel like my coworkers abstract away the bigger machine we operate in, whereas I'm usually very aware of the downstream consequences or externalities, but sometimes when I bring these up people look at me like I'm crazy or weird.
I could go into more details, about my personality, about having some schizotypal issues, but the older I get (I'm 36) the more different I feel, rather than finding ways to relate to others. It's not really something like protagonist syndrome, I actually prefer having a low key life, I'm not aspiring to do some great work or anything. It's just that I'm different in a mundane way, it just means how I view things is a minority, or the experiences I have don't necessarily track with others, etc
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Comment on Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ in ~tech
Mullin LinkI think this CEO and the rest of the article seems to indicate he's a typical cut funding increase workload clown shoe, that being said, I do have issues with HR, but it's not really HR's fault....I think this CEO and the rest of the article seems to indicate he's a typical cut funding increase workload clown shoe, that being said, I do have issues with HR, but it's not really HR's fault.
HR is almost never actually empowered to make changes that would help the business run, or save the business money, so almost always people interact with them they just think they are unhelpful or anti-helpful to workers, since they never actually change anything it's the same as "taking the side of management". Maybe nobody bothered to give them responsibility or they never wanted it, but it's crazy how much money businesses waste in churn because of bad managers, I'm fairly positive having a bad manager makes people quit more readily than bad pay or bad hours, which is wild. If HR was empowered to actually take concerns about toxic management seriously, or help structure companies in less rigid and inefficient hierarchical structures, then I think they'd be very useful. It's wild you have accounting that does internal audits to look at where business units are failing but you don't let human capital perform audits to make sure that your employees are actually happy and productive, and that the types of managers hampering the organization get the ax.
It's wild that in say baseball, if a team loses a lot the manager gets fired before the players do, because the players are the real assets, but in business the workers are considering a liability, and the managers can often get in the way.
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Comment on Why is it so hard to get an ADHD diagnosis? How do you find a good psychologist? in ~health.mental
Mullin Link ParentI don't think it's an undue fear, it's likely 1. A real concern over drug seeking behavior and malingering, given how quickly commenters here suggested lying and or gaming the system in order to...I don't think it's an undue fear, it's likely 1. A real concern over drug seeking behavior and malingering, given how quickly commenters here suggested lying and or gaming the system in order to get a dx/stimulants, and 2. Stimulants are addictive and dangerous if abused. I'm happy you don't know anyone who has abused stimulants, but people can and will develop actually destructive addiction to stimulants, even ones legally prescribed for legitimate diagnosis.
I think a large problem that I've personally seen, is that attention and motivation are not really context independent. I was screened for ADHD as an adolescent, I just needed to be moved into harder courses. Even now I struggle to focus at work..... Because my work is very boring. I can focus in the right contexts.
This isn't to say that I don't think that OP would benefit or should avoid stims, I know many people with ADHD who take stimulants as directed with little downsides, but it's a bit too blase about it to say it's a non-fear, right?
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Comment on Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentIt doesn't eliminate the starter motor, I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but the starter motor is the non-traction motor component of the E-CVT I've got a Ford C-Max and it's got an identical...It doesn't eliminate the starter motor, I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but the starter motor is the non-traction motor component of the E-CVT
I've got a Ford C-Max and it's got an identical E-CVT hybrid setup as the Toyotas
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link Parentthe 5N has torque distribution, which because the two motors aren't connected, really just lowers the power on one or the other, so it'll let you go 100% front or rear, but you'll have less power...the 5N has torque distribution, which because the two motors aren't connected, really just lowers the power on one or the other, so it'll let you go 100% front or rear, but you'll have less power as a result. I'm almost positive that "Eco" mode also disconnects the front motor.
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentSorry, I more meant that with the low inventory, there wasn't an Orange near me that wasn't marked up or more than I was willing to spend, it's not that the color itself cost more, these cars are...Sorry, I more meant that with the low inventory, there wasn't an Orange near me that wasn't marked up or more than I was willing to spend, it's not that the color itself cost more, these cars are very much, dealers have one or zero, or at most two available, it's not like normal cars where you can pick your color at any given dealership. When we got my wife's car, we had to go out of town to find a dealer that wasn't overcharging, and for this car as well, I had to drive over 200miles for it, I rented a car, drove, bought the car, dropped off the rental, and drove it back lol.
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentOof yeah sorry, I'm coming from a US perspective, that still seems like under MSRP if I convert it to USD though, not sure what the starting MSRP was in NZ, but hey, at least you get the HUD and...Oof yeah sorry, I'm coming from a US perspective, that still seems like under MSRP if I convert it to USD though, not sure what the starting MSRP was in NZ, but hey, at least you get the HUD and sunshades in your market if that's a consolation!
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentI ended up with white, and it's grown on me, but I'd really have preferred the orange, just couldn't find one for the right price. I also think the matte grey looks really good, too. I love all...I ended up with white, and it's grown on me, but I'd really have preferred the orange, just couldn't find one for the right price. I also think the matte grey looks really good, too. I love all the settings, I'm someone who likes fiddly things in general, so being able to adjust the engine, battery, stability control, traction control, N pedal, launch control, track and drag modes, sprint modes..... there's a lot, but none of them feel gimmicky, or well, the ones that feel gimmicky like e-shift are implemented incredibly well so it doesn't feel like no care or thoughts went into them. It's a car you can just drive a different way if you feel like it. Not to mention that you can just punch it normally, or press the NGB for full power, or any other number of things. I haven't tried the drift mode or torque distribution much but it's got that too, plus a LSD in the rear. It is a serious driver's and track focused car, in an insanely affordable package and with insane power.
I get that at MSRP, people were hesitant to pay 68k for a Ioniq 5, it still has a lot of interior trim from a vehicle 30k cheaper, but the numbers don't lie and it's still a value if you want this type of car. An RS3 would run you similar price and you'd be in a slower vehicle that's gas only. And personally I get concerned having owned a high strung turbo about the longevity of high strung turbo engines. I have zero qualms driving the 5N hard since I know the car can do it all day, I'm not worried about the clutches or transmission or gunning it with a cold engine and causing unnecessary wear etc etc etc.
I will say, I don't think people really recognize this car, or appreciate it the way they would any flavor of 911, if you go to a cars and coffee, don't expect to get waved into the fancy section, they will put the 50th base Carrera in front of you, but for me as someone who built a sleeper, I don't mind too much. And it's kind of cool to own the fastest car that Hyundai has ever produced (we'll see if the 6N is appreciably quicker but they are the same platform, same power etc, so doesn't bother me any, and I like the 5 aesthetic WAY more). And it's funny that there are likely more of the mass market Ferraris like the 296 then there are 5Ns, it's truly that rare, I haven't seen another one on the road period, whereas I see lambos and even McLarens just driving around here.
There are low mileage, certified pre-owned 5Ns scattered about with full+extra manufacturer warranty in the high 40s, fully 20k off MSRP, if you find one, I wouldn't hesitate to snap it up.
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentYeah the ICCU issue is a pita, they also for whatever reason tend to eat the 12v batteries, but the time it happened in my wife's 5 they fixed it same day.Yeah the ICCU issue is a pita, they also for whatever reason tend to eat the 12v batteries, but the time it happened in my wife's 5 they fixed it same day.
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentThey were saying they have the AWD non-GT spec. Yeah the EV6 GT is reasonably close to the 5N in straight line acceleration, afaik the 5N handles considerably better though, and personally I...They were saying they have the AWD non-GT spec. Yeah the EV6 GT is reasonably close to the 5N in straight line acceleration, afaik the 5N handles considerably better though, and personally I didn't like either of the EV6 exterior or interior styling. Still the same platform though so I'm sure they are solid vehicles
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentThe 5N at least will let you fully turn off traction control as well as stability control if you want to, so it's perfectly content to let you spin out, it's nice that the car has a lot of "tech"...The 5N at least will let you fully turn off traction control as well as stability control if you want to, so it's perfectly content to let you spin out, it's nice that the car has a lot of "tech" features like the E-shift combined with enthusiast "turn all the nanny's off". Best of both worlds
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentIt's crazy how Kia/Hyundai have really turned things around isn't it? And yeah, I wish there were more wagons out there, they are just very practical. Growing up I mostly drove sedans, but...It's crazy how Kia/Hyundai have really turned things around isn't it? And yeah, I wish there were more wagons out there, they are just very practical. Growing up I mostly drove sedans, but hatchbacks are just much more practical and you get more interior room for your passengers, many a sedan, even as they've grown now, doesn't have as much headroom in the rear, especially if it's fastback style. The back seats in the Taycan are notoriously bad iirc, and the cross turismo(the body style I'd like) only makes it marginally better. And that's before you get to the price tag :x
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Comment on Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT in ~transport
Mullin Link ParentYeah, it's definitely one of those things where, they seriously put an investment in making the car track capable, up to and including thermal management, that, plus the wheels, really harms the...Yeah, it's definitely one of those things where, they seriously put an investment in making the car track capable, up to and including thermal management, that, plus the wheels, really harms the range. Our other Ioniq 5 is RWD only, and regularly shows over 300miles of range at full charger. I really don't drive that far, my longest drives are usually 50 miles across town and back, so it's not a huge issue, and I do NOT wish the car to be even heavier, which it would be with a larger battery. I won't touch a Tesla, so their performance models were not a consideration, but the Porsche EVs and the Audis and frankly, even Volvo are making some really capable vehicles that aren't just a straight line dragster
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Hyundai Ioniq 5N or: welcome back Forester XT
There are plenty of video reviews of this car out there from people who do it for a living, but I'm not a car influencer or anything like that, I'm just an enthusiast who bought this car with my...
There are plenty of video reviews of this car out there from people who do it for a living, but I'm not a car influencer or anything like that, I'm just an enthusiast who bought this car with my own money and wanted to give some real impressions for other enthusiasts out there.
Long ago Subaru made a Forester XT that was more or less a de-tuned STI engine in a compact SUV and it was AWESOME. I had an 04 XT that was turbo-swapped, with race exhaust, it was a very quick car and other than getting terrible gas mileage, burning oil, and eventually imploding the transfer shaft in the transmission, it was pretty great. In the ensuing years Subaru pulled out of WRC, killed the STI, and stopped putting turbos on everything (shame). While the hot hatch market has kept up to an extent, the crossover/smaller SUV performance market more or less died entirely.
Fast forward to 2023, I purchase a new Ioniq 5 to replace our BMW 3 series before our kiddo is born, since it's easier to get the car seat in and out etc with a higher vehicle(if it'd have even fit in the 3 series at all). And it's.....great, they are awesome cars, and changing to an EV was not a big deal at all, we mostly charge at home, but the overall build quality of the Ioniq 5 is really quite good, and it's a well put together car, there's a reason it's won many awards since release, outside of the ICCU roulette(which nobody seems to know whether you will or won't be affected, we haven't, knock on wood).
As things go, at some point I start wanting another enthusiast vehicle, my friends and family have stayed car people the whole time, and there's only so much envy you can have when you see Corvettes, 911s, etc, fast is fun. Well Hyundai releases the Ioniq 5N, the legally distinct M5 Estate, the Great Value Urus. And I happen to find one for a good price, and with another kid on the way, I really still can't have a 2 door sports car, it needs to fit a car seat(or two) and well, if having one of a car is good, having two of a car must be....gooder?
I don't need to tell you about all the weird quirks etc about the 5N, every single youtube video goes over this, it's pointless to rehash. What you need to know: holy fuck this car is fast, if you have been in fast cars, or hot hatches, or supercharged trucks, or tuned builds, I assure you it is likely faster. Over 600hp with minimal losses and a single gear transmission, AWD, and large summer tires will do that. The only car faster I've regularly driven is a 992.1 Turbo S, which is a stupid fast car that it's wild they sell to the general public, but those cost $250k, this costs $68k (or the aforementioned ICCU issues, there is quite a few lemons for far less, and those have pushed the clean titled, low mileage used down as well) so you can very easily pick up a 600hp, practical hatchback, for around 50k or less if you want a buyback. That is an absolutely, tremendously insane value. And yes, we all know EVs are fast, but the suspension setup, the grippy tires, and the additional chassis work they did makes it suspiciously capable to cornering, it corners better than many sports cars stock, which should not happen in a 4800lb SUV, wtf.
So then: is the 5N worth it over the normal 5? If you do not want an enthusiast vehicle, no it's not. Especially in the US market, the 5N loses amenities that it gets in other markets, or that are on the Limited trim of the base version: no HUD (Boo), no heated rear seats or sunshades (Boo) and no sunroof option(idc). The Limited trim seats are also much more comfortable for long drives, and you have the relax/recline function for charging stations. The 5N bucket seats are perfectly comfortable, they are actually great for the car, but I had to drive the car back 250miles and it was fine, but it would have been better in the default seats. Other downsides: the range is TRASH, expect 200miles at full charge max, 10% of battery buys you 20miles, the car is on fatter, larger wheels, with lots of additional cooling for performance, and you WILL want to drive it like a lunatic because the car BEGS you to. I wouldn't recommend this car as a first performance vehicle for someone, it's just too fast. Nobody should go from a normal car to a car that runs an 11.1 quarter mile bone stock.
On all the N options: I basically never use the e-shift, I don't care, I like not having gears, it's what you'd want in any car if you could get away with it. Shifting is vestigial, and while I can understand coming from manuals, people like the sensation, it's kind of fun, but I like going fast, and I want the cars full power as much as possible, but it's there if you want it. I really like the N-Pedal, I absolutely adore one pedal driving, and while I usually use the max default regen, the N-Pedal cranks that even more, and a quirk is that, because it's intended for track use, N-Pedal won't bring you to a complete stop the way that max regen in default will, I wish they'd change that honestly. Dynamics wise, this car has a rear power bias, and if you make a turn and punch the gas you WILL kick the ass out, especially in N mode(which is basically how I have the car every time I drive it, with everything in Sport+ except ESC in sport not off, and suspension in normal (sport+ suspension is harsh)) so it is far livelier than any other EV with big HP and accel numbers out there. And while again, it is not light at 4800lbs, considering the new M5 weighs nearly 6000, there's no shortage of large and heavy performance vehicles these days.
So yeah, I've had the car for several months now, and really enjoy it, and wanted to share my own opinions with you all, for the price to performance ratio of this car is truly, truly stupid, and you're not sacrificing practicality for it. One of the first things I did was throw a car seat in the back, and it's got enough boot space to put my kid's huge wagon+anything else. You really can't buy anything at all comparable for less than double or triple the price. Downside is that there simply isn't that many 5Ns that were allocated to dealers, and at the beginning they were charging over MSRP for them because they could. AND there's no telling that the ICCU may or may not fail, and it'll brick your car if it's not fixed, so that's a downside, that said, going back to the title of this whole post, my Suburu XT also exploded it's transmission and couldn't drive anywhere afterwards either, at least the ICCU is under warranty for a while, and I went through I think 3-4 high pressure fuel pumps on my first gen 335i, too.
We don't have a ~cars area, so hopefully hobbies is the right place, cheers.
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Comment on What's a battle that nobody knows you're fighting? in ~talk
Mullin LinkI'm constantly in a battle with myself over feelings of insecurity, imposter syndrome, and general dissociation with reality. I think it's something I've always dealt with, to a certain extent,...I'm constantly in a battle with myself over feelings of insecurity, imposter syndrome, and general dissociation with reality. I think it's something I've always dealt with, to a certain extent, but definitely the tendency to dissociate got worse in my late 20s/30s. I've always had a tendency to set myself up for failure to a certain extent, knowing that without lofty goals I will feel too comfortable to be ambitious. But that comes along with actually failing to do things over and over, and having a laundry list of things I wished I achieved that grows ever longer with each passing year. That and the weight of responsibility, finances, family, friends.......it's to the point where I've had to stop myself from buying cigarettes a few times recently, when I haven't smoked at all since I was 18(36 now).
That isn't to say I'm not happy or not generally in a good mental place, it's just that work stress has been higher since I changed departments, and I don't really jive with my new team, but there's nothing to be done about it except suffer, since I care about my finances too much.
There's also just......the only term I can come up with is loneliness, but not in a romantic sense like most people think of. I'm very happily married, with one kiddo and another on the way. It's more that at my age....conceptually, I thought that how I grew up, how my parents had their siblings with kids, all their friends with kids, and low stress, easy financial environment at the peak of prosperity before 01/08(and everything afterwards) that I thought "I'll have this". And then I just.....don't, really, and that makes me lonely. Fortunately at least one of my friends has a kid now, but my closest friends are all childless, and it just makes me really sad. I feel like over time they we'll diverge, with me not having as much opportunity to play games, hang out, etc etc.
So yeah, that's me...constantly trying to swallow all the......for lack of a better term.....microtraumas? All the job woes, all the financial instability, all the rejections, all the failures....that I've encountered through my entire life that my brain won't let me forget, to where even now when I should feel accomplished and fine I'm just......not. Maybe this comes across as more negative than I intended, I'm a pretty positive person all things considered, I guess that's what I'm fighting to keep hold of.
It seems that these extremely expensive funerals are a more modern invention, so I think there's not necessarily a reason to point to the colonial history of sub-Saharan Africa if it's something that has arisen post-colonialism, or within-colonialism if you'd prefer that phrasing. So from a case study perspective I think focusing on the how's and the why's is more pertinent, sure, the author is making a value judgement about the practice, and indeed making a judgement against kinship societies in comparison to more western market economies.
I think it's still totally fine to look at the situation and wonder: why are these societies, even with modern information, still making sub-optimal decisions, and we're not just speaking sub-optimal in terms of some capitalist vs kinship perspective, sub-optimal in terms of access to healthcare, maternal mortality, child hunger, etc. Real human metrics, the purpose of maslow's hierarchy is to be a heuristic for quality of life, I do find it interesting in a paradoxical way that poor communities would spend so much celebrating the dead but not spend on healthcare for the living, that's an interesting thing to look at, even if you think this author in particular has an axe to grind.
I think there's a time and a place to bring up the history that may have influenced initial conditions or underlying circumstances of a problem, but it's not always helpful to addressing that problem. I deal a lot with medicaid populations in healthcare, and saying "racism" is the reason for the disparate health outcomes of African Americans may be completely true, but it's also unhelpful. When our goal is to figure out how to stop so many black americans from having kidney failure, we have to address any practices or cultural components that are contributory factors, and yes, make a value judgement about it. I think it's just a bit....tiring, that I knew these types of comments would be here as soon as I read the article, but I don't see the same type of defense of culture or non-capitalist ideals when it comes to female genital mutilation? We don't have to litigate everything as serving some alternative cultural theses every time, sometimes we can just decry something as harmful. I think that's obviously the case with FGM, I think it's the case with Hasidic communities denying basic education to kids, and I think it's harmful here if families feel entitled to spend multiple years of salary on ever exorbitant funerals, especially when it appears to have no real historical cultural significance. Similar things like gambling, in western societies or otherwise, or lotto tickets, or payday loans, it's preying on the less fortunate to extract wealth away from them, I don't think we have to bend over backwards to defend that.