14 Comments
Jul 22, 2023Liked by The Unhedged Capitalist

People are usually pretty dark about late stage capitalism but maybe it will be a kind of renaissance where we discover that the best things in life are what you can't buy.

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I hope that more people can realize this. It's a point I hammer home till people are sick of hearing about it: the best things in life can rarely be bought.

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Jul 23, 2023Liked by The Unhedged Capitalist

Totally buy into learning about and somehow resolving childhood trauma. Mine was staring me right in the face but it took many too many years to get a grip. Good book review.

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Thanks Jerome.. It's not easy to confront something you've been hiding for years (decades) is it? Not that I'm an expert at all. Reading this book is forcing me to think about my own past too

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Thanks for the shout out😁

The social connection aspect of mental and physical health is more widely promoted in the senior community.

A short article if interested:

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/2017/03/01/mental-fitness-study-shows-seniors-stay-healthier-social-connections/98520962/

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Great article, but I see absolutely no reason why any of that should apply only to seniors. It's a human thing!

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I agree, it’s just that more studies are conducted on the happiness and life quality of that segment of the population

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Jul 25, 2023Liked by The Unhedged Capitalist

All the non-drug solutions are important. But I disagree that SSRIs are ineffective. You have to find the right one and the right dose, but they absolutely can help. When I was sunk deep in depression years ago, Effexor kicked me out of it. I never enjoy placebo effects -- on the contrary, I'm also extremely doubtful that a medicine will work (in most cases).

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Well I'm glad it worked for you. Johann is careful to point out in his book that there is no black or white, and however much he rails against SSRIs, they may work in certain circumstances like yours.

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Strictly speaking, Effexor/venlafaxine is not an SSRI; it's an SRNI. It inhibits reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine. Does Johann discuss these?

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There's a wonderful analysis of the connection between unresolved emotional pain and anger (could be depression for some) towards the end of Tim Ferris podcast 658 from last March.

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It's actually quite well known that anti-depressents are glorified placebos. If you're interested in the topic, i thoroughly recommend 'The Emperor's New Drugs' by Irving Kirsch PhD. It was published in 2009, so it's been public knowledge that SSIs are a pharma scam for at least 14 years now... and yet how many people actually know that? And how many doctors still continue to describe them...

I agree with the comment below - I too think we're about to figure out that capitalism can't create a utopia any more than communism can. We need a whole new paradigm that rejects both.

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I'm no expert AT ALL but I think what's happened is that SSRIs have a decent placebo effect, and the side effects are not *that* bad, so there is a massive incentive to keep this train going for as long as possible.

It's an interesting point about capitalism/socialism & utopias. I fully agree that no societal structure can propagate a utopia, it's up to us to find a way to create our own meaningful lives. Capitalism simply appears (at least to me) to be the rule set which gives everyone the best opportunity to furnish their own utopia.

I suppose if we replace capitalism I'll have to rename my Substack 😑

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The problem is the term "capitalism". People use it to mean quite different things. It's especially baffling when people talk about "late stage capitalism". I've pretty much given up on trying to rescue the term. When I use it I mean free markets but most people mean the highly interventionist system we have now. Most of the problems come from the government interventions, not from the markets.

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