5 ms·

We seem to live in an age of such abundance and freedom that it's now possible to live in all manner of ways which seems to exacerbate these extremes. In the p

by kypro 5y ago

We seem to live in an age of such abundance and freedom that it's now possible to live in all manner of ways which seems to exacerbate these extremes. In the past if you were a man and wanted to eat and have a home you had to work. We also relied far more on children to look after us in our old age than we do today. Today welfare and the affordability of essentials like food make it possible for people not to work and not worry about the implications of growing old without family. I agree it's cultural, but it's a cultural trend being fuelled by the abundance of modern day living. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know. I guess it's nice people can choose to play video games all day and not worry about working or having a family, but I worry about the impact this will have on our mental health. I also wonder what this means for economic inequality and the stability of society in general. I'm a big believer that people only care to preserve societies they have a stake in and if a large enough percentage of the population own nothing and offer no value it's very easy to see this causing a division. Should I as someone who works, pays tax, pays for his own home and pays for his own food be happy with someone who chooses not to work and have everything paid for them by people who work like me? And if you don't work and don't pay tax wouldn't you naturally want to see higher taxes and more government welfare?

ajkdhcb2 5y ago
Where is this socialist paradise that you speak of where you can have a home without working? There is nowhere like what you are saying. It is the exact opposite of what you are claiming. Affordability of essentials has become so much worse that many people can't afford to live a decent life with their own home even if they are working the jobs that they can actually acquire. These people aren't privileged because they "choose not to work and have everything paid for them by people who work like me", it is generally emotionally devastating to be stuck living with your family while your youth evaporates. Further, the money to do this is coming from the family (for those lucky enough to have a family wealthy enough). You're not paying for it with your taxes.
- Mediterraneo10 5y ago
  > Where is this socialist paradise that you speak of where you can have a home without working? Finland, for example. "Home", of course means a simple flat in a housing block and there might be a waiting list, but housing every single one of its people regardless of employment has been something that the state has sought for a long time.
  - ajkdhcb2 5y ago
    I live there and personally know people that are unwell but pushed to work because there are so many requirements, always going to doctors and filling out forms. You can't just say you don't want to work.
- kypro 5y ago
  > It is the exact opposite of what you are claiming. Affordability of essentials has become so much worse that many people can't afford to live a decent life with their own home even if they are working the jobs that they can actually acquire. Where do you live? Most people I know are literally given homes to live in by the government. Admittedly I'm a working class guy in the UK and I'm not that familiar with the US welfare system so perhaps its quite different there. But for example, my girlfriend's mum has never worked a day in her life but lives in a £600,000 5 bed house. When she went to the job centre last year she was advised not to take part time work because she'd lose out on the benefits. If these people were starving or homeless, don't you think they would get a job? Today we have a generation of people who have parents rich enough to let them live in their homes rent-free without demanding they get a job while the government is there for you if you decide not to. Is it any surprise some people decide a 9-5 isn't for them? To your point though, I do accept it's harder to own your own home, but it's certainly not harder to live without a job today. At least not here in the UK.
  - intarga 5y ago
    Something doesn’t add up about that story. I’ve lived in the UK, council housing and unemployment benefits are meagre.
  - Apfel 5y ago
    This story is just a lie. As others have said, council houses and benefits in the UK are not a pleasant experience, or easy to get without jumping through means testing hoops constantly
pm90 5y ago
> I'm a big believer that people only care to preserve societies they have a stake in and if a large enough percentage of the population own nothing and offer no value it's very easy to see this causing a division Wouldn't someone that is able to spend most of their time playing video games (instead of e.g. farming) want society to continue as it exists today? Without that society, wouldn't they be forced to fight/work for sustenance?
- mkmk2 5y ago
  I was a whole lot more spiteful when I was playing video games 24/7 and felt like there was nowhere else to go. I would've been far happier seeing an end to everything then, when everything seemed impossible, versus now that I have some experience, some skin in the game.
- crocodiletears 5y ago
  It's hard to articulate how bitter a life without ambition or purpose can make someone.
ARandomerDude 5y ago
> For certainly your desire for peace, and prosperity, and plenty is not prompted by any purpose of using these blessings honestly, that is to say, with moderation, sobriety, temperance, and piety; for your purpose rather is to run riot in an endless variety of sottish pleasures, and thus to generate from your prosperity a moral pestilence which will prove a thousandfold more disastrous than the fiercest enemies. It was such a calamity as this that Scipio, your chief pontiff, your best man in the judgment of the whole senate, feared when he refused to agree to the destruction of Carthage, Rome's rival and opposed Cato, who advised its destruction. He feared security, that enemy of weak minds, and he perceived that a wholesome fear would be a fit guardian for the citizens. And he was not mistaken; the event proved how wisely he had spoken. For when Carthage was destroyed, and the Roman republic delivered from its great cause of anxiety, a crowd of disastrous evils immediately resulted from the prosperous condition of things. Augustine, Civitate Dei

by kypro 5y ago

ajkdhcb2 5y ago

Where is this socialist paradise that you speak of where you can have a home without working? There is nowhere like what you are saying. It is the exact opposite of what you are claiming. Affordability of essentials has become so much worse that many people can't afford to live a decent life with their own home even if they are working the jobs that they can actually acquire. These people aren't privileged because they "choose not to work and have everything paid for them by people who work like me", it is generally emotionally devastating to be stuck living with your family while your youth evaporates. Further, the money to do this is coming from the family (for those lucky enough to have a family wealthy enough). You're not paying for it with your taxes.

Mediterraneo10 5y ago
> Where is this socialist paradise that you speak of where you can have a home without working? Finland, for example. "Home", of course means a simple flat in a housing block and there might be a waiting list, but housing every single one of its people regardless of employment has been something that the state has sought for a long time.
- ajkdhcb2 5y ago
  I live there and personally know people that are unwell but pushed to work because there are so many requirements, always going to doctors and filling out forms. You can't just say you don't want to work.
kypro 5y ago
> It is the exact opposite of what you are claiming. Affordability of essentials has become so much worse that many people can't afford to live a decent life with their own home even if they are working the jobs that they can actually acquire. Where do you live? Most people I know are literally given homes to live in by the government. Admittedly I'm a working class guy in the UK and I'm not that familiar with the US welfare system so perhaps its quite different there. But for example, my girlfriend's mum has never worked a day in her life but lives in a £600,000 5 bed house. When she went to the job centre last year she was advised not to take part time work because she'd lose out on the benefits. If these people were starving or homeless, don't you think they would get a job? Today we have a generation of people who have parents rich enough to let them live in their homes rent-free without demanding they get a job while the government is there for you if you decide not to. Is it any surprise some people decide a 9-5 isn't for them? To your point though, I do accept it's harder to own your own home, but it's certainly not harder to live without a job today. At least not here in the UK.
- intarga 5y ago
  Something doesn’t add up about that story. I’ve lived in the UK, council housing and unemployment benefits are meagre.
- Apfel 5y ago
  This story is just a lie. As others have said, council houses and benefits in the UK are not a pleasant experience, or easy to get without jumping through means testing hoops constantly

pm90 5y ago

> I'm a big believer that people only care to preserve societies they have a stake in and if a large enough percentage of the population own nothing and offer no value it's very easy to see this causing a division Wouldn't someone that is able to spend most of their time playing video games (instead of e.g. farming) want society to continue as it exists today? Without that society, wouldn't they be forced to fight/work for sustenance?

mkmk2 5y ago
I was a whole lot more spiteful when I was playing video games 24/7 and felt like there was nowhere else to go. I would've been far happier seeing an end to everything then, when everything seemed impossible, versus now that I have some experience, some skin in the game.
crocodiletears 5y ago
It's hard to articulate how bitter a life without ambition or purpose can make someone.

ARandomerDude 5y ago

> For certainly your desire for peace, and prosperity, and plenty is not prompted by any purpose of using these blessings honestly, that is to say, with moderation, sobriety, temperance, and piety; for your purpose rather is to run riot in an endless variety of sottish pleasures, and thus to generate from your prosperity a moral pestilence which will prove a thousandfold more disastrous than the fiercest enemies. It was such a calamity as this that Scipio, your chief pontiff, your best man in the judgment of the whole senate, feared when he refused to agree to the destruction of Carthage, Rome's rival and opposed Cato, who advised its destruction. He feared security, that enemy of weak minds, and he perceived that a wholesome fear would be a fit guardian for the citizens. And he was not mistaken; the event proved how wisely he had spoken. For when Carthage was destroyed, and the Roman republic delivered from its great cause of anxiety, a crowd of disastrous evils immediately resulted from the prosperous condition of things. Augustine, Civitate Dei