How is that a strawman? Sure life could be worse as you said, but life could also be a lot better. The meme takes no shots at the former claim, instead making fun of people who fail to imagine the latter. Talking about how we already live in relative luxury is also a very common deflection from arguments for why we should improve society, without actually countering said arguments.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's a straw man because nobody said you should be happy wasting your life away in an office generating shareholder value. It's possible to appreciate the good things we have whilst still being critical of the system we are in. I personally disagree with the other commenters implication that capitalism is to thank for these things but that's a whole other discussion.

[–] Deme@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Usually when people call anything a luxury, the implication is that it's something to be happy about. Given that the meme is about wasting ones life away in an office generating shareholder value, I would say that that's the it here.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My reading of the comment was that the luxury being referred to was the fact that it's indoors, access to clean water, music etc. Nobody said slaving away for shareholder value is a luxury. My point is these are important non black and white issues and to have a proper conversation about them we need to engage with what people actually say. Otherwise what's the point of even commenting here?

[–] Deme@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The meme is about a lack of fulfillment, not of comfort. The comment by ikr muddles these two off the bat by focusing on comfort as a retort to the meme, and my reply was to intentionally follow that flawed reasoning to display its absurd conclusion. Modern comforts will not make a job fulfilling.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Pointing out a positive side of something isn't muddying the waters, nor is it in any way an attempt to refute the original point. If you're unable to acknowledge something positive about the situation then I think that's on you, personally. Like I said, we should engage with the things people actually say, not what we think their implied meaning might be. It does not follow that being more comfortable should imply you should feel fulfilled and that is not an argument that's been put forward by anyone. No need to refute something nobody is putting forward. It just makes it harder to have a productive discussion, nothing more.

[–] Deme@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

WaSTeD LiFe 🤪

What do you think they meant with the alternating caps and the emoji? Personally, I think that it's quite clearly an attempt to ridicule the meme and those who agree with it, built on the preceding facts about modern white collar work being relatively comfortable, which is (as per my previous comment) irrelevant to the question at hand. If you disagree on this interpretation of their intent, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. Good day to you.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 23 hours ago

Fair enough, have a good one mate. Appreciate the discussion.