We can't go numb.

There is no justice when laws are enforced without dignity.

There is no humanity if we don't feel pain when we see pain.

I'm worried by the pleasure that so much of our country seems to feel while watching others fail or be hurt. Regardless of your political views, it is dangerous to accept the bargain of getting what you want in exchange for all of your empathy.

Every nuance stripped away, pared down to the simple act of someone with power hurting someone without it, over and over. The way we taunt countries with threats, the theater of ridiculing people who have entered our country illegally, the vitriol with which we cancel well-intended welfare.

It's impossible for me to read the headlines today and not be reminded of the film's depiction of violence as entertainment.

One detail that astonishes me is its view on entertainment: only two channels, sex and violence. There's a scene where a character is flipping between two holographic projections: a person seductively dancing, the other shows an authority figure beating a vulnerable person.

I presumed a big jump in his public net worth was the news of SpaceX’s $350b valuation on their stock buy back. Surely that wasn’t news to him… he was spending with much more information than the public had.

I only meant to reference your own description above:

"The over-eater whose brain and gut chemistry were set by parents"

It's not sustainable for the population to keep gaining weight (and justify it because their parents conditioned their eating patterns) and require society to pay for the consequences. The govt would have to *force* people to slim down to make it work. What would that look like?

I think most people would be freaked out by the alternative if they played it out in their minds...

It sucks, but we inherit our parents' choices (and DNA) and we don't have the 'right' to a different reality but we have the freedom to make choices and pursue outcomes that improve our situations.

The consequences of sipping alcohol are much different from liver failure due abusing alcohol.

CTE from football is an established and broadly known risk and you should not play if you are not willing to make the tradeoffs.

Regarding gray area, yep that exists, it is messy, but I don't think it's as vast as you're suggesting.

At a minimum we can accept that there are obvious irresponsible choices, right?

Loved it.