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Originally Posted by basilsands
That's my point, we choose the path for our nation based on the path we desire for ourselves. Looking historically at the world. Those poor nations with large families tend to last in stasis for thousands of years, virtually unchanged and quite often relatively happy with their lives and family. I am not talking about desperately poor people here, but those whom the west might consider poor nonetheless. Those who are in an unhappy / horrible circumstance are quite often there not because of their level of wealth rather because of outside forces controlling or even enslaving them. Regardless of their circumstance though, societies that focus on family first last for millenia even though we may see them as poor.
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Happiness is relative. You seek happiness where you can find it, and compare your lot against that of your peers. What makes you happy will vary by who and where you are.
Sure, folks in those static societies might appear "happy" and content with their lot, but what other options do they have?
When such societies encounter more developed societies with a greater range of options, discontent occurs rather rapidly. The history of India and China since encountering the West is largely the history of trying to come to terms with the impact. Both societies are in transition, no longer static, and both are attempting to become developed nations. That effort is fraught, because the process requires social and cultural changes rather at odds with the established patterns and traditions.
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Successful, wealthy individualistically focused societies on the other hand always vanish after only a few centuries. Their empires dissolve for lack of financial support/new military recruits/adequate agriculture and they revert back to the small countries whence they emerged only a few hundred years earlier. Look at any empire of the past the cycle is apparent.
This, by the way, is not a judgement statement. It is a historical statement.
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It is certainly a judgment statement. Whether it's supported by historical record depends upon your viewpoint and what factors you consider.
You may be correct, but that doesn't make it any less a matter of judgment.
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Dennis