this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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Every time I read a complaint about having to do the dishes or working a dumb job, I like to imagine the complainer making their case to the kids who work 16 hour days to make their clothes.

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[–] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 14 points 5 hours ago

You're allowed to be critical of capitalism even if you dont have it worse than everyone else on planet earth. Shocking I know.

This is huge "hmmm, yet you participate in society" energy and is exactly the kind of thing the owning class want you to think like, probably has been paid for and spread by and for capital

You absolute fucking pillock

[–] Son_of_Macha@lemmy.cafe 8 points 5 hours ago

WTF is this shite

[–] Sunsofold@lemmings.world 2 points 4 hours ago

I end up explaining this a lot:

Just because something 'more X' exists, it does not mean things that are 'less X' cease to exist. If someone else has been murdered somewhere in the world, it doesn't mean non-consentual gropings are to be ignored. If your older sibling was given three slices of pizza, it does not mean you will starve with your two slices. The fact that we have a concept of a googleplex as a number does not mean the number one is meaningless.

Whether something is good or bad, it remains good or bad, regardless of its scale.

And complaining about things, though annoying, is the best form of feedback we can hope for. If something is wrong, no feedback leads to the continuation of the thing being wrong. If people complain, something can be done to fix the issue. If people take direct action to end the problem, that's usually violence.

By diminishing people's ability to complain, you are advocating for either ignorance of harm or violence.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Life isn't a pissing contest.

There will always be someone with it worse.

Oh you were molested as a kid. Well this other person was gang raped as a kid.

Oh you were gang raped. Just once as a kid.

Well this other person was trafficked and raped for years.

Oh you were trafficked and raped for 5 years.

Well this other person was also trafficked and raped for 10 years and also beaten every day.

See how that "what about" b.s is not helpful. ?

Injustices are not dismissed because something worse happened to someone else.

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 26 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Are you

aware

that you are spending energy complaining about the tone of online discourse

when others have it worse?

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -5 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Did I say it's the worst thing that's ever happened?

Pointing out something accurately is not the same as saying you live in a capitalist hellhole, despite living a more comfortable life than almost every other human who has ever lived.

[–] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 2 points 5 hours ago

So, who is allowed to criticize the status quo, ever? By this logic, only one person on planet earth is entitled to criticize capitalism

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)
[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -1 points 6 hours ago

Heads up, you might have had a glitch or mistype while replying there!

[–] emerald@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

"Yet you benefit from living in the imperial core. Curious!" 'We should improve society somewhat' 'Yet you participate in society. Curious! I am very intelligent'

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 16 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Just because someone has it worse doesn't mean you don't have it bad.

[–] potatoguy@mbin.potato-guy.space 11 points 9 hours ago

It's not because someone is worse than you that you shouldn't complain.

A brazilian here...

[–] 30p87@feddit.org 4 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Did it cross your mind that the reason so many people have to walk by piles of corpses is because of capitalism. Because war and exploitation is profitable to those in power.

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 8 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

People have worse than you therefore you shouldn't challenge the systems that made it so instead of just rolling over and complying, Dog.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Calling your pampered life a capitalist hellhole isn't challenging the system, it just sounds like childish whining, devoid of substance or merit.

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Pointing out specific issues and raising awareness of them is, however, challenging the system. It may not be major, but resistances start small.

Some people aren't aware of the infringements on their liberties and the systemic exploitation under which they live. Anyone who is aware should be bringing that to light however they see fit.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Pointing out specific issues and raising awareness of them is, however, challenging the system.

Maybe look at the post again? "Living in a capitalist hellhole" is the example given and in the body the examples are complaints about a dumb job or washing the dishes.

Serious valid complaints don't make sense in context of the meme.

Equating privileged childish whining with actual criticisms of society seems like a bizzare choice.

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Working a dumb job is a quintessential part of living in a capitalist hellhole.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -2 points 5 hours ago

I mean, breathing is a pretty essential part of it too.

But, just because I breathe doesn't mean I'm in a capitalist hellhole.

If you really think our pampered lives are hellholes, then you should read more about the rest of the world and/or history. To anyone with a speck of knowledge though, this sort of take just makes us sound like a toddler complaining how everything is unfair because she has to brush her teeth before bed. (A complaint I heard issued while babysitting my friends' furiously adorable 3 year old with her mouth full of toothpaste. It took everything I had to not smile and laugh.)

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 9 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Would you prefer they not complain at all and ignore others’ problems?

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -2 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

I'd prefer we complained in ways that didn't make us sound like benighted children. When we do so, it makes it hard for anyone to take actual critiques seriously.

When I babysit my friends' toddler, I'm not surprised when she howls at the injustice of not being allowed ice cream for dinner. But I also expect her to grow out of it.

Yeah, things could be better. But the fact is that almost everyone on here is living more comfortably than most humans who have ever lived.

[–] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

So, because things are better than before, we must accept the status quo? We can't want to improve further? Especially nothing that while we might be better off than the past, inequality is rising, governments are cracking down on freedoms and we don't feel were being given a fair shake at life when compared to those who own the land we all live on?

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 0 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

You've kind of just written the same basic misunderstanding repeatedly, so I'll just answer here.

The point, which you're missing, is that when we complain in ways that make us sound like benighted children, it makes it hard for anyone to take actual critiques seriously.

There are absolutely valid critiques, important and fucking essential critiques. **But ** claiming you live in a capitalist hellscape while you live a life of luxury unimaginaeable to most humans who have ever lived, well, that makes you, and by extension the Left, sound, at best, like an ignorant child.

Consider how dumb it sounds when Republicans claim that any climate action is an attack on American Freedoms etc. It sounds stupid and makes you discredit any sort of actual critique about some perhaps ineffective climate mitigation etc.

[–] TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

You also keep saying the same shit over and over again, including "benighted children" for some reason.

Nobody is comparing anybody to the past. The present is better than the past because of the hard work of humans to make it that way.

I'm not sure who you are or where you come from, but most of the west is indeed a capitalist hellscape. Yes, it's very different to being literally enslaved to mine lithium as a child in the Congo. However, being told you have it a lot better than Congolese slaves while you effectively have no real agency over your life, that you will largely spend grinding a meaningless job to afford to survive in a society that can comfortably feed and house and educate everyone, is a hellscape.

Whether you ever want to admit it or not, your entire argument is just that hellscape is too mean a word to describe indentured servitude, because slavery exists

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 0 points 4 hours ago

Sorry, benighted means intellectually unenlightened. Think of it as a term meaning ignorant, with some other connotations but that'll suffice.

most of the west is indeed a capitalist hellscape

Yeah, that's just a silly take.

If there's no frame or context, then anywhere with anything that you dislike in any way is a hellscape, e.g., Taylor Swift's life is a hellscape because she can't go into a casual restaurant without being hassled.

If you live better than almost anyone who has ever lived, like Swift does, complaining about living in a hellscape is pretty silly.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

What can I say? People are awful. It’s why I avoid them.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I agree, I think we're pretty awful.

But the hope is that memes and jokes like this make maybe one or two people put their sillier grievances into perspective.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Aww, I remember feeling hope, too.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 0 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

So that's how silly I sound when I say that.

Regardless of how grumpy an old man I am, I should stop saying that.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

You should. I’ve said it too much and now not even Billy Bragg and the Murphys singing “All You Fascists” can’t get me hype.

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Unfortunately we all live on the same planet being turned into a hellhole by capitalists, some just have more corpse piles to deal with than others

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -3 points 7 hours ago

I'd strongly recommend reading about the world. For vast swathes of humanity, it's better than ever before. An easy quick one is Hans Rosling's Factfulness.

I get that for some of us, our parents had cheaper houses, but holy God, more people are moving out of poverty and living better lives than ever before.