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"You'd need a central bureacracy [which is the problem]" It's more than a problem - you couldn't implement such a system without a totalitarian state. "It's a

"You'd need a central bureacracy [which is the problem]" It's more than a problem - you couldn't implement such a system without a totalitarian state. "It's a source of sadness for me" It's a source of sadness for me that you haven't thought through the details of your plan to "make everyone's world better".

pbhjpbhj 10y ago
"one might feel the only reason to do something is to have more than other people" Are you saying you do ascribe to this position, that your only motivation to work is to get more money (and by extension luxuries) than everyone else has? My plan, which I haven't mentioned is to guard against my own tendency towards greed and basically follow Ghandi's maxim of "being the change you want to see in the world". Do you have specific objections to that plan?
- deleted 10y ago
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- objectivistbrit 10y ago
  "Are you saying you do ascribe to this position, that your only motivation to work is to get more money (and by extension luxuries) than everyone else has?" No. I never said anything like that, and you are arguing dishonestly. (For the sake of other readers: the goal of work is to achieve eudaimonia, productive happiness. The false dichotomy between "material greed" and "spiritual self-sacrifice" causes massive and unnecessary misery. See the books in my profile for details). "Do you have specific objections to that plan?" The change you said you wanted to see in the world was everyone earning the same wage. Here's a specific objection: let's say I'm a plumber living in your utopia, and some of my neighbours complain that InstPlumbing is often slow fixing their pipes. Though it's a fair bit of work, I'm willing to do it myself in exchange for a few of their hoarded dollars (or cigarettes, or whatever), which I later barter for extra bread rations for my kids. Whoops, now I'm earning more than other plumbers and we have inequality again. Should I be banned from performing this greedy, selfish activity? And how are you going to stop people from engaging in such voluntary trades without totalitarian surveillance?

pbhjpbhj 10y ago

"one might feel the only reason to do something is to have more than other people" Are you saying you do ascribe to this position, that your only motivation to work is to get more money (and by extension luxuries) than everyone else has? My plan, which I haven't mentioned is to guard against my own tendency towards greed and basically follow Ghandi's maxim of "being the change you want to see in the world". Do you have specific objections to that plan?

deleted 10y ago
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objectivistbrit 10y ago
"Are you saying you do ascribe to this position, that your only motivation to work is to get more money (and by extension luxuries) than everyone else has?" No. I never said anything like that, and you are arguing dishonestly. (For the sake of other readers: the goal of work is to achieve eudaimonia, productive happiness. The false dichotomy between "material greed" and "spiritual self-sacrifice" causes massive and unnecessary misery. See the books in my profile for details). "Do you have specific objections to that plan?" The change you said you wanted to see in the world was everyone earning the same wage. Here's a specific objection: let's say I'm a plumber living in your utopia, and some of my neighbours complain that InstPlumbing is often slow fixing their pipes. Though it's a fair bit of work, I'm willing to do it myself in exchange for a few of their hoarded dollars (or cigarettes, or whatever), which I later barter for extra bread rations for my kids. Whoops, now I'm earning more than other plumbers and we have inequality again. Should I be banned from performing this greedy, selfish activity? And how are you going to stop people from engaging in such voluntary trades without totalitarian surveillance?