4 ms·

but the social incentives are the problem. my understanding is that a lot of the oxycontin epidemic stems from the lack of purpose many people have in their liv

but the social incentives are the problem. my understanding is that a lot of the oxycontin epidemic stems from the lack of purpose many people have in their lives without the identity of a job as a role in society. people collecting disability benefits and developing a drug habit as a way of escaping from it temporarily. if we just broaden the handouts from taxes on the large corporate winners, couldn't that make this problem worse? unless there's something else driving it.

jarfil 8y ago
Having a job is not the only source of purpose there is. Handing out money may not be an incentive to work harder, but it can let those people look for different ways of achieving satisfaction other than just getting high. People with no money tend to think they need to use any money they get ASAP on fast rewards, only when they have enough money to save do they start thinking about saving any at all. Of course this will hardly work to get those already addicted to change their ways overnight, but some long term financial stability can change the worldview of new generations so they plan for their own future instead of living like they were to die tomorrow.
- ghostcluster 8y ago
  > Handing out money may not be an incentive to work harder, but it can let those people look for different ways of achieving satisfaction other than just getting high. The problem is we already do this in the US, and we've seen the concurrent rise of a new drug epidemic arise alongside it among the same demographic who are receiving disability.
Applejinx 8y ago
People like those writing that headline are the same people telling those on disability benefits that they're shameful sinful people who shouldn't be there: hence, making an escape necessary. Eventually there'll be no truly useful purpose for most people EXCEPT as a functioning market for selecting goods and services, for the benefit of the much smaller percentage that can innovate and run small businesses. Heaping scorn on the majority of people seems like a weird strategy. By far the most effective technique for improving conditions for the small entrepreneur is to dump money into the customer base, even if that customer base won't be making entirely 'good' decisions. Hell, if you don't like them all doing heroin at home in their rooms, build nightclubs. If they are not so broke that they can't come out, they'll start attending your nightclub because there are other things in life besides nodding off on soma.
opencl 8y ago
Please, I live in the rust belt and knew several people that have died from this. None of them were unemployed. The government giving out money has nothing to do with it. People living off disability benefits can't afford heroin anyway, they're lucky if they can afford both rent and food.
- ghostcluster 8y ago
  They can afford prescription painkillers through medicaire and medicaid. If you set aside your personal anecdote and look at the actual data, it is a real thing that is happening in the US: https://www.propublica.org/article/extreme-use-of-painkillers-and-doctor-shopping-plague-medicare https://www.propublica.org/article/extreme-use-of-painkiller...
  - opencl 8y ago
    You were specifically referring to people with no jobs collecting disability benefits. I certainly agree that people obtaining these drugs when they don't need them through insurance/medicare/medicaid is a problem.
    - ghostcluster 8y ago
      medicaid also applies to the working poor, and it has been recently expanded to cover a larger demographic in many states.
      - opencl 8y ago
        This isn't a "government giving poor people money" problem, it's a "doctors writing inappropriate prescriptions" problem that is unrelated to the source of funding and clearly happens with private insurance as well. Your post that I was replying to was also very specifically NOT about the working poor, but about jobless people on disability having a "lack of purpose".

jarfil 8y ago

Having a job is not the only source of purpose there is. Handing out money may not be an incentive to work harder, but it can let those people look for different ways of achieving satisfaction other than just getting high. People with no money tend to think they need to use any money they get ASAP on fast rewards, only when they have enough money to save do they start thinking about saving any at all. Of course this will hardly work to get those already addicted to change their ways overnight, but some long term financial stability can change the worldview of new generations so they plan for their own future instead of living like they were to die tomorrow.

ghostcluster 8y ago
> Handing out money may not be an incentive to work harder, but it can let those people look for different ways of achieving satisfaction other than just getting high. The problem is we already do this in the US, and we've seen the concurrent rise of a new drug epidemic arise alongside it among the same demographic who are receiving disability.

Applejinx 8y ago

People like those writing that headline are the same people telling those on disability benefits that they're shameful sinful people who shouldn't be there: hence, making an escape necessary. Eventually there'll be no truly useful purpose for most people EXCEPT as a functioning market for selecting goods and services, for the benefit of the much smaller percentage that can innovate and run small businesses. Heaping scorn on the majority of people seems like a weird strategy. By far the most effective technique for improving conditions for the small entrepreneur is to dump money into the customer base, even if that customer base won't be making entirely 'good' decisions. Hell, if you don't like them all doing heroin at home in their rooms, build nightclubs. If they are not so broke that they can't come out, they'll start attending your nightclub because there are other things in life besides nodding off on soma.

opencl 8y ago

Please, I live in the rust belt and knew several people that have died from this. None of them were unemployed. The government giving out money has nothing to do with it. People living off disability benefits can't afford heroin anyway, they're lucky if they can afford both rent and food.

ghostcluster 8y ago
They can afford prescription painkillers through medicaire and medicaid. If you set aside your personal anecdote and look at the actual data, it is a real thing that is happening in the US: https://www.propublica.org/article/extreme-use-of-painkillers-and-doctor-shopping-plague-medicare https://www.propublica.org/article/extreme-use-of-painkiller...
- opencl 8y ago
  You were specifically referring to people with no jobs collecting disability benefits. I certainly agree that people obtaining these drugs when they don't need them through insurance/medicare/medicaid is a problem.
  - ghostcluster 8y ago
    medicaid also applies to the working poor, and it has been recently expanded to cover a larger demographic in many states.
    - opencl 8y ago
      This isn't a "government giving poor people money" problem, it's a "doctors writing inappropriate prescriptions" problem that is unrelated to the source of funding and clearly happens with private insurance as well. Your post that I was replying to was also very specifically NOT about the working poor, but about jobless people on disability having a "lack of purpose".