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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   1092 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 2, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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what i eat in a week at my NONNA's house in ITALY 🌶️

TLDW: Lots of good and fresh food. Family, country side, trees, farmers markets, music, etc. (Also moderately hot girl, but let's ignore that for now)

A significant portion of but not majority of the comments be like:

most people want rich and modern lives, but this is the life i want. being home cozy with people i love, eating homecooked food, living in the forest... this video just gives me warmth (+16K)

I’m American and never lived this kind of life. No close family, no home cooking, no fresh fruits and vegetables, no comfortable house. My eyes tear up watching this. It seems so natural and right. I’m happy people live like this. I think it’s how people are meant to live.

Unbelievable that there are places in the world like this that treat everyday like this. Food is a celebration. Everything is fresh from the market. Time is less important and eating nourishing and full meals throughout the day is normal. And coming together to sit around the table each and every time…unbelievably important. 3rd time watching this because it just gives me so much inspiration as an American who is dying to travel to Italy someday and who also hopes to be able to give my future children more of this type of experience surrounding food, family and connection.

It’s nice to see that some parts of the world haven’t forgotten how to live life and it’s not all about money

However

I am autistic. My brain is conjuring up a thousand thoughts and conflicting feelings.

I will admit the life portrayed in the video is probably very pleasant, and you would have to achieve a rather high-end version of the "modern" atomized or even DINK lifestyle of International travel, Michelin Starred monthly meals, and Music Festivals to be about just as happy. So on one hand, I do relate to the comments.

HOWEVER. On the other hand. I want to yell at the people making these comments about lacking perspective. If the entire world lived like this, we wouldn't have engines, computers, the Internet, or ChatGPT. And I think all those things are worth a lot.

Also, doesn't Italy have a youth/recent-grad unemploymentrate of like 40%? Isn't nonna able to afford all these meals because she bought her house when boomers stole from the future? And is funding it now because they are stealing from the zoomers., Maybe I have some kind of brainrot, but my priors whenever I see a group of people having it too good (from my atomized capitalistic point of view), I think rent seeking.

moderately hot girl

sure.jpg

Do Americans really not eat fruits or vegetables? I never really bought into the food desert narrative but perhaps YouTube commenters really are so deprived.

Isn't nonna able to afford all these meals because she bought her house when boomers stole from the future? And is funding it now because they are stealing from the zoomers.

It's not clear to me that there's much to afford here. Italy has 1 euro houses in some areas. Obviously the 1 euro is a fake price but the point is that there isn't an overwhelming demand for housing in many parts of the country. Many Italians are happy to live an unemployed lifestyle with rather little consumption, funded partially by young Italian suckers workers and partially by other Eurozone workers.

It's true that if everyone was an Italian layabout we'd be much worse off though.

Do Americans really not eat fruits or vegetables?

We do, but:

  • Fruits and veggies are more expensive than in europe. They are lower quality with greater selection.
  • When we do have them, there's a cultural proclivity to deep fry, cover in mayonnaise, etc. that removes much of their benefit (Side note: southern fried green tomatoes are unbelievably delicious)
  • We also have more exotic synthetic foods to choose from that are cheaper than most "whole" foods
  • People are fucking lazy in terms of cooking, developing their palates, or exercising the self-control to make most of their meal vegetables. Including me.

I would be interested in a more detailed look at point 1 because it seems a bit hard to believe.

A cursory search pulled up this: https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/outlooks/40408/30646_wrs0404f_002.pdf

The price comparison doesn't include fruits and veg, but the availability table shows that the US is better off than the average EU country and better than most of the rich ones, though not as good as the Mediterranean countries like Greece and Cyprus.

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