Amusing ourselves to death

[Meneldil]

Well I can't speak for Andres, but as far as I'm concerned: yes, a full fridge and a beer and wine cellar is the pinnacle of human achievement.

You people worry, me and Andres fill our tummies and exchange some red Bordeaux' for an assortment of Leffe's.

I can't believe they got you aswell Louis. You, the french republican, are satisfied by a bottle of wine and some beer. What a shame.
France is supposed to open the path to worldwide enlightenement, to pave the way to universal freedom. It's either that or death.

The world would be such a wonderful place if a) everybody would have a full fridge; b) everybody would be happy with just that.

Limitless achievements? If everybody or even just a large minority always wants more and more and more... then we will never have a peaceful world where everybody is happy. Never. Jamais. Nooit.

Thing is, a lot of people don't have a full fridge. That's part of why I think your statement was disappointing: you have food, so well, everything is fine.
There's a lot of things humanity could improve. First and foremost, obviously, filling everybody's fridge would be a great step forward. But that would be only a beginning.

I personnaly loath stupid people. Call me an arrogant snob, but people who record their cryings because Michael Jackson died or because their favorite soccer team lost turn me mad. People who think they look cool by acting gangsta and speaking in a weird way make me sad. People who keep complaining about everything but refuse to do anything valuable because 'everything sucks' (ie. 'I don't understand and can't be bothered to try') are my bane.
I, for one, would never be happy in a society composed entirely of that kind of people. I'd rather commit suicide than sit down and admit 'oh well, that's fine, everybody has food afterall'.

During the 18th, some thinkers got the weird idea that you could educate people and turn them into decent citizens. I might be old-fashioned, but I think this is a great goal. I'm not asking for everyone to be an expert philosopher, but being an open-minded, enlightened, tolerant and free citizen would seem to be a good start.
Sadly most people prefer to get stuck in their own stupidity and complain whenever something goes wrong, blaming the few people that actually try (with more or less honesty) to do something.

Furthermore, the fact that I think mankind hasn't reached its full potential doesn't prevent from enjoying fine food, fine wine and fine women. One can have pleasure and still be an idealist.