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Nothing half baked about it I have regular ongoing relationships with the employees at the Giant (Grocery store) near my house and know their names and who the

Nothing half baked about it I have regular ongoing relationships with the employees at the Giant (Grocery store) near my house and know their names and who they are as people and they know me and my kids and it's great. To the extent where together, myself, Sandi (Night Manager), the Asst Manager and some of the staff all worked together to help get a wonderful man back on his feet that was struggling and begging and living outside nearby. (edit:In this case he was begging, and I sat and talked with him about his situation and getting him what he needed for that day. Then I recruited the staff to watch for him and I would leave a bag of food every week but they needed to give it to him, so that's what they did. He ended up moving in with family and I saw him again (at that same Giant) but instead he was shopping with his family and he told me that we all collectively saved his life.) So yes building community is important and you can do so with the individual people that work within these corporate systems to great effect and for the tangible and measurable benefit of human flourishing today right now. edit:I can't reply to comments on this for some reason

solardev 3y ago
What is Giant? The bicycle company? Do you mean you and a few employees there just got together and started, what, a shared pot of money for emergencies? Can you please share more about how that happened (or maybe even a blog post)? I'd love to try something similar.
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  See my edit above. It wouldn't let me reply for some reason. Basically, I just took it upon myself to help this guy but I needed the staff to help. Because I already knew them over years of interaction, it was an easy conversation/ask that they agreed to and we were successful in giving this guy a hand up. No govt or coercion or anything needed.
anigbrowl 3y ago
You are assuming your interactions set the standard for everyone else. A story about how you helped someone is a nice anecdote, but it's not a good basis for extrapolation as you've been doing. I help people too, it does not follow that everyone can or should do things the way I do. The specifically half-baked thing is the idea that by doing something for yourself you're stealing someone else's labor opportunity. I bag my own groceries (at any checkout, self-serve or not), for 3 reasons: I want it done in a particular way, I don't like being waited on in general, and I get exercise from humping a heavy bag of groceries home in a backpack. By your logic I'm forcing the bagging assistant to move to another register and depriving autoworkers of their economic future. Your heart is definitely in the right place, but I don't want to be part of your church.
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  > the idea that by doing something for yourself you're stealing someone else's labor opportunity This is the mindset of "rugged individualism" Which has nothing to offer society (in which you live) for a way to live. You are mortally bound to need and care for others. Choosing not to does not absolve you of the responsibility, it's simply lacking the character necessary to provide for your own care via supporting, fixing, building a functional cooperative society.
  - anigbrowl 3y ago
    You are mortally bound to need and care for others. This is exactly what I meant when I said I don't care to join your church. I can see why you'd object to the sort of individualism that says 'I won't help others because people should take care of themselves.' However, you've now extended this to the idea that people who do practice various kinds of self-sufficiency should not be allowed to, but must be be in a position of needing others whether they want to or not. This is an absurdity. Is a person who cuts their own hair to be forced to go to a barber or hairdresser? Should programmers have to obtain a permission slip before writing code? Should hardware stores refuse service to DIYers? Your values as stated deny anyone the possibility of self-sufficiency, solitude, or privacy.

solardev 3y ago

What is Giant? The bicycle company? Do you mean you and a few employees there just got together and started, what, a shared pot of money for emergencies? Can you please share more about how that happened (or maybe even a blog post)? I'd love to try something similar.

AndrewKemendo 3y ago
See my edit above. It wouldn't let me reply for some reason. Basically, I just took it upon myself to help this guy but I needed the staff to help. Because I already knew them over years of interaction, it was an easy conversation/ask that they agreed to and we were successful in giving this guy a hand up. No govt or coercion or anything needed.

anigbrowl 3y ago

You are assuming your interactions set the standard for everyone else. A story about how you helped someone is a nice anecdote, but it's not a good basis for extrapolation as you've been doing. I help people too, it does not follow that everyone can or should do things the way I do. The specifically half-baked thing is the idea that by doing something for yourself you're stealing someone else's labor opportunity. I bag my own groceries (at any checkout, self-serve or not), for 3 reasons: I want it done in a particular way, I don't like being waited on in general, and I get exercise from humping a heavy bag of groceries home in a backpack. By your logic I'm forcing the bagging assistant to move to another register and depriving autoworkers of their economic future. Your heart is definitely in the right place, but I don't want to be part of your church.

AndrewKemendo 3y ago
> the idea that by doing something for yourself you're stealing someone else's labor opportunity This is the mindset of "rugged individualism" Which has nothing to offer society (in which you live) for a way to live. You are mortally bound to need and care for others. Choosing not to does not absolve you of the responsibility, it's simply lacking the character necessary to provide for your own care via supporting, fixing, building a functional cooperative society.
- anigbrowl 3y ago
  You are mortally bound to need and care for others. This is exactly what I meant when I said I don't care to join your church. I can see why you'd object to the sort of individualism that says 'I won't help others because people should take care of themselves.' However, you've now extended this to the idea that people who do practice various kinds of self-sufficiency should not be allowed to, but must be be in a position of needing others whether they want to or not. This is an absurdity. Is a person who cuts their own hair to be forced to go to a barber or hairdresser? Should programmers have to obtain a permission slip before writing code? Should hardware stores refuse service to DIYers? Your values as stated deny anyone the possibility of self-sufficiency, solitude, or privacy.