One way or another we’re all rats in a cage

The COVID pandemic, observes Hashimoto, has taught us the value of having reserves set aside for a rainy day. Or, says Nohara, it teaches the contrary: the pointlessness of sacrificing present fulfillment for future security which an unexpected epidemic, war, economic depression, flood, drought, quake, might in an instant rend to tatters.

So many people are so eager to get out and resume 'normal' activity and living but we're not thru this pandemic yet. The temptation is there but we still have to do our [art to beat this.

She is of course useless to capitalism in its present form, which is probably the greatest threat to freedom of any ideology devised. There is straight line from slavery and back to it again.

She is of course useless to capitalism in its present form, which is probably the greatest threat to freedom of any ideology devised. There is straight line from slavery and back to it again.

Or, you could argue that because spends all her money on temporary things, rather than save or accumulate assets, she is the poster child of consumerism and the instant gratification mindset.

Good point, BeerDeliveryGuy. Like she's the final intensification of consumerism personified. But also she is like living voluntarily at subsistence level, instead of being forced into it like most of us will be in the end.

. Imagine a luxury hotel – gourmet dining, king-size bed, cocktail lounge, swimming pool, servants anticipating your every need, desire, caprice – free. No charge. No strings. Well, one: you can’t leave. Would you check in?

well, IF all my family and friends were with me and THEIR every need, desire, caprice ANYTHING we all EVER wanted and anticipated was provided- HELL YEAH

"We're all rats in a cage."

Depends on how one chooses to look at the world. What one person calls the glass half full, another person calls half empty. What one person calls living like a rat in a cage, another person calls a life of almost unlimited possibilities.

Why? asks Nohara. A cage is a cage, however golden. She concedes luxury’s appeal but knows its limits. She mentions a lady of her acquaintance, in her 70s, rich now but poor as a child, whose keenest enjoyments are bathing in public sento baths on free coupons they sometimes hand out in the street, and shopping in 100-yen shops. The moral of the story: childhood sets your standards for life. Too far above them is as bad as too far below. Wealth past a certain point is not satisfying but stressful, to say nothing of the stress of acquiring it, which is another matter altogether – not unrelated, however.

Yup, my experience entirely. My first shopping stop when I get to Japan is usually one of the several brands of 100-yen shops to buy a knife, cutting board, shampoo, and things I'll use for the next thirty days. If I find a sento, that is a next stop. I look for hostels or cheap minshuku. Childhood set my standards for life. I guess if you are forced to be frugal when you are young, it can help you to accumulate wealth rather than spend every last yen/farthing/cent as soon as it comes into your hands. The question, if you raise your children without the same frugality, is how they handle adulthood and having to budget and spend within their means. A cage is a cage is a cage.

So did these people actually sit around drowning rats or did they invent that story as a metaphor?

So did these people actually sit around drowning rats or did they invent that story as a metaphor?

Nohara and Hashimoto didn't do the experiment, Curt Richter did. It works well, though, as a metaphor. More on the experiment can be found on the net.

In the 1950s, Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins, did a famous drowning rats psychology experiment. This experiment, though cruel, demonstrated the power of hope and resilience in overcoming difficult situations.

Summary by The World of Work Project

12 domesticated rats were used in Curt’s first set of experiments. The first of these rats initially swam around the surface, then dove to the bottom of the bucket and explored what was there for a while. It lasted a total of two minutes before it drowned.

Two of the other domesticated rats did roughly the same thing and survived for roughly the same period of time.

The other nine domesticated rats though did something completely different. After an initial exploration, they predominantly spent their time and the surface. And they just kept swimming. They survived for literally days before eventually succumbing to exhaustion and drowning.

The second set of experiments Curt undertook involved 34 wild rats. Wild rats are excellent swimmers, and these savage and aggressive ones had only recently been caught.   Despite their ferocity, fitness and swimming ability, not one of the 34 wild rats survived more than a few minutes.

Curt reflected on what caused some of the rats to give up and decided that hope was a key factor in the willingness to struggle. Where rats have perhaps been helped in the past and have hope of being saved, they will keep fighting in the belief that all is not lost. However, when they don’t have this prior experience, they will give up quickly.

In his own words he said: “The situation of these rats scarcely seems one demanding fight or flight — it is rather one of hopelessness… the rats are in a situation against which they have no defense… they seem literally to ‘give up.’”

With this in mind, Curt decided to experiment further. Curt’s hypothesis was roughly that introducing hope to rats would increase their survival times.

To test his hypothesis Curt selected a new cohort of rats who were all similar to each other. Again, he introduced them into buckets and observed them as they progressed towards drowning. This time though, he noted the moment at which they gave up then, just before they died, he rescued them. He saved them, held them for a while, and helped them recover.

He then placed them back into the buckets and started the experiments all over again. And he discovered that his hypothesis was right. When the rats were placed back into the water they swam and swam, for much longer than they had the first time they were placed in the buckets. The only thing that had changed was that they had been saved before, so they had hope this time.

Curt wrote that “the rats quickly learn that the situation is not actually hopeless” and that “after elimination of hopelessness the rats do not die.”

"Curt wrote that “**the rats quickly learn that the situation is not actually hopeless” and that “after elimination of hopelessness the rats do not die.”"**

The rats do not die as quickly, apparently. So one could say that 'hope' simply extends one's misery. One of the worst possible effects following a 'broken heart' is the HOPE that the beloved will see the 'truth' and come back which seriously lengthens the period of grief and can even lead to tragedy. At one point, I had a button (I think I still have it somewhere) which said, "I feel so much better since I gave up hope" and I did.

"So did these people actually sit around drowning rats or did they invent that story as a metaphor?"

If you read between the lines in the scientific literature or happen to have some acquaintance with 'animal research institutions', compared to what is done routinely to mice, rats, cats, dogs, monkeys, Chimpanzees, and, in infamous cases, HUMANS, drowning is a mercy. The horrific tortures that animals undergo in the hands of so-called 'scientists' with psychopathic personalities in the name of 'research' would scar your brain if you were to actually investigate just what is done 'ethically'. And the reason these sorts of people prefer 'ethics' is because 'ethics' is optional and violations do not engage the nonexistent conscience. Morality, that is, innate conscience, is NOT optional.

We are not rats nor in a cage. We all have a free will.

Not all are rats in a cage, somebody has to put the rats inside

I thought this was a heads up on the forthcoming film

The Menu......

THE MENU | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures.....Nov

We are not rats nor in a cage. We all have a free will.

True, true. Sometimes, though, we are placed in adverse circumstances not of our choice. What we do when that happens is a matter of choice. We get to decide how we will react when acted upon.

I am amazed at the number of people who seem to prefer constant complaining rather than working to improve their circumstances. Curt likened them to the rats that just swam around before giving up and drowning. Some people drown in self-pity and sorrow and seem to choose not to exercise their free will, similar to the rats. Perhaps their "cage" is partly of their own making.

Despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage - Smashing Pumpkins

You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave - Eagles

This writer seems to copy ideas from rock songs.

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