Misery is a Terrible Thing to Waste (It's not)

As I thought about what I wanted to say in this commentary I realized I was considering the wrong question. Instead of pondering why have so many human miseries been turned into revenue streams the better query would be is there a human affliction that isn’t a revenue stream? While I’m certain there are exceptions it seems the spectrum of human experience is a condition that requires remediation, intervention, management and therapy. Of course, there are medical, physical and psychological conditions that deserve the very best humanity can provide. It is the other human misery that modernity chooses to monetize rather than prevent or ameliorate. In an earlier post- Is Public Education Actually Educating Students- https://www.allthink.com/1824670  discusses the use of a person’s formative years of education to ensure ideological conformity rather than self-improvement, skill acquisition, personal autonomy and upward mobility. The neglect of these elements in curriculum results in the financial exploitation of human misery. The myriad of therapies, social services, self-help, fee-based counselors, therapists, etc., provide stark evidence of the subsidization, management and promotion that sustains the lucrative misery market. This utilitarian perspective of humanity, under the guise of “caring” is all the more abhorrent and reminiscent of “Arbeit Macht Frie.”

Cause and effect is not an ideological concept. It is impervious to racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, socio-economic status, education etc. It exists a priori of any human construct. For example, a person comes into contact with fire he/she gets burned, damaged impaired, etc. It is not necessary to actually get burned to learn to avoid being careless with fire. Providing young people with relevant information regarding the cause and effect of actions/choices the evidence documents is destructive and detrimental is called education. Why, when so much evidence exists, is the consequence of sexual promiscuity, drug use, little education or skill, obesity, debt, etc. not mandatory part of public education? Why are the young being shielded from reality? In whose interest is this denial? It can’t be that it would be costly to include the school budget. It does not require infrastructure upgrades or technology acquisitions; so why? Feel free to respond.