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That's literally untrue. It's built on people spending money. If there is no trade, there is no economy. This fetishism with "work" as a proxy for the value of
by uoaei 6y ago
That's literally untrue. It's built on people spending money. If there is no trade, there is no economy.
This fetishism with "work" as a proxy for the value of the human life which performs the work is a very American concept with corollaries in only a couple other countries. This is not the norm and certainly not a healthy way to look at labor and the economy.
- WalterBright 6y ago> It's built on people spending money Money is a recent invention, and economies have flourished without it. Money facilitates trade, increases liquidity, and reduces friction in transactions. > This fetishism with "work" as a proxy for the value of the human life which performs the work It is not a proxy for the value of a human life. It is a representation of the value of the labor of that human. Americans are very generous in voluntarily giving to charities.
- uoaei 6y ago> It is a representation of the value of the labor of that human. By withholding economic power until someone provides "labor" as defined by the state, and leaving them embedded in an economy which requires money to survive, you are directly tying the value of the human life to the value of their labor. > giving to charities Interesting, probably has a lot to do with the low taxes and high amount of disposable income.
- WalterBright 6y ago> probably has a lot to do with the low taxes and high amount of disposable income. A young lady I used to know was the kindest person I ever met. She didn't have much, but would donate a few dollars to every charity that called. They had her number, and called her all the time. She was the real deal, not one of those people who are only generous with someone else's money. > you are directly tying the value of the human life to the value of their labor. Oh baloney. Plenty of people will voluntarily give food to a hungry person.
- Frondo 6y ago"Plenty of people will voluntarily give food to a hungry person." Not enough, with the amount of hunger that's present in the richest country in the world.
- WalterBright 6y agoI encourage you to give generously to your local food bank. You'll be doing the right thing.
- Frondo 6y agoCharity has never adequately addressed social problems in America. signed, a surfer
- WalterBright 6y agoI'm not aware of any social problem that has been adequately resolved by any organization, government or private. There's always someone who thinks it's not good enough. Certainly UBI isn't going to do it, either.
- Frondo 6y agoThere are 12 US cities that have achieved "functional zero" homelessness -- no chronic homelessness and no homeless vets. The country of Finland has done the same, with a plan to reach absolute zero (nobody staying temporarily with friends or relatives) by 2022. Right now, over there, with 5.5 million people, 500 people don't have permanent housing of their own. Does that count?
- WalterBright 6y ago> 500 people don't have permanent housing of their own. I.e. it's inadequate.
- charlesu 6y agoCompensation is a representation of bargaining power. If anything, compensation for labor has an inverse relationship with actual value. Teachers get paid little despite educating future generations, sanitation workers contribute more to the public health than doctors but make peanuts, and stay-at-home parents nurture children and are paid nothing at all. Bargaining power is not value of labor. We are paid what can demand and not a penny more irrespective of our labor's actual value.
- WalterBright 6y ago> compensation for labor has an inverse relationship with actual value. Value is what people are willing to freely pay for it. Any other definition of it is subjective and fairly useless.
- charlesu 6y agoYou’re talking about price. Price is not value.
- WalterBright 6y agoThe value of something is price where the supply & demand curves cost.