> Why can't we have nice things? "Nice things" is a value judgement, subjective, and the question as phrased usually seems mostly rhetorical. It's always a str

> Why can't we have nice things? "Nice things" is a value judgement, subjective, and the question as phrased usually seems mostly rhetorical. It's always a struggle to communicate clearly. We can, and do in fact have nice things. It's nice to be alive. It's nice to watch a beautiful sunset. It's nice to have potable drinking water. It's nice to have a computer with a keyboard and a monitor and an internet connection. And it's nice to be a part of a community. But you have to take the good with the bad. We also have a fascistic police state. We have enormous wealth disparity and the resurgence of medieval plagues due to unsanitary living conditions on the streets of our cities. We also have microplastics in our bloodstreams. We have PFAS in our drinking water. We have Donald Trump. I think your questions are pointing in the right direction. Profit motive. Dark patterns. Hamstrung governments. Acting selfishly. Personally, I think we'll have a lot more nice things, and fewer bad things, when we can collectively acknowledge that the reason for microplastics and PFAS in our waters and bloodstreams is absolutely the result of the status quo. Just like addiction, the first step in getting help is admitting that you have a problem. And we most certainly need help. It remains to be seen if we can admit that we have a problem.