Does "gratitude" really help?

[thetwilightzone]

Or is it just another shaming tactic invented to keep people from complaining and keep them down.

The reason I ask is because many seem to think that we lack gratitude? They'll say B.S. like "Some starving african kid would kill to have depression/anxiety/select list of problems considered ridiculous".

It seems like a fallacy of relative privation. Now I'm not saying that being thankful shouldn't be a thing, but it only works when you can use it to improve your life. If your life is shit, there's simply no point in comparing it to someone who has it worse (at least that's what I think).

This could all be avoided by dying. It's ridiculous how people have to justify people being in certain situations by telling them others have it worse as opposed to letting them just end their life. If the only thing that can console someone who has lost their job that someone is starving in Africa then fuck them, why should I care? I don't have to deal with that person.

It's a bunch of shitty annoying B.S. spewed out. I wouldn't mind it at all if people kept it to themselves.

 

[CRM]

I'd give my life to anyone who wants it, free of charge. I'll pay you, actually.

Pain is pain, end of story. I hate that people have it worse, but using that logic means only one person in the world should ever be allowed to complain.

 

[Deleted member 1496]

Because they're out of real solutions? Gratitude only addresses good things that you already have. But it doesn't address bad things you have or good things that you don't have.

 

[Tiburcio]

How "serious" are your problems has 0 relevance. Everybody should get rid of the scourge gratitude is. I mean:


Am I suffering? Yes.


END.

 

[Rollo]

Well comparing your misery to someone elses who's having it worse can have some pain-killing properties. Like I'm dealing with noisy neighbours and caught myself that I actually enjoy watching vids where people have it worse (like this one funny black guy from Cambridge Heights). Cause by comparison I start to think my case is not that bad. Still it's only a consolation mind trick and in the end it won't solve anything fundamentally besides being not too healthy practice in itself.

As far as starving kids go I remember reading an account of an escapee from North Korean prison labour camp (guy was born there) where he said how he was surprised how many suicides there are in rich South Korea while in his camp despite harsh conditions and starvation he never heard of a single case.

 

[Deleted member 847]

Fuck me, I hear this argument countless times.
My Mom - You wouldn't have the time to be depressed and think about suicide if you worked your ass off like my husband, if you were a homeless man yada yada yada
Me - HEY MOM. Those people choose to live, therefore they have to deal with the consequences of living. It's their choice. We all deal with our problems in different ways. If the homeless man thinks he'll solve his problems by struggling it's his choice. If he doesn't consider suicide because society says no it's still his choice. I choose not to recognize stupid taboos and mental constructs, I have my own principles.
My Mom - Gets angry and screams some nonsense.

 

[Comatose11]

I think gratitude can help but it only takes you so far. However, comparisons don't really help imo. I hate the starving children in Africa platitude. Or, "there are people who are dying who want to live." I would happily give my life to someone who is dying and wants to live and then I could die. Win win.