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Comment by brink | Hacker News Reader

> At what point are we just gonna admit that we've built a crap world and we oughta have an honest conversation about fixing it?

When we start admitting the problem is fundamental to human nature, meaning we start pointing the finger at ourselves instead of only at other people. Until then, this cycle will only continue.

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Not sure if you're implying that having a "crap world" is inherent to human nature, but I disagree. We live in a society that forces the majority of people to labor tirelessly for low wages. In our society, money is power, and one can't shoulder the blame for a dysfunctional society that they (for all intents and purposes) don't have a say in.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the mental health crisis is a societal problem, not a personal one. With roots in low wages, high hours, world instability, a loss of community/spirituality, and other factors that simply are not controllable by the average Joe.

It is not fundamental to human nature to be in unfathomable amounts of debt.

Debt is fueled by greed, which human nature is prone to.

'Human nature' is whatever people want it to be for the purpose of argument. It's a thought-terminating cliche. There isn't one single personality type, although there is some evidence to suggest that there are 4 or 5 basic ones.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1600451

Greed is part of human nature, sure, but so is empathy and selflessness and a sense of justice. We certainly didn't need to build a society that rewards people for giving into one of their most selfish and cruel impulses.

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