3 ms·

It’s not those in power wanting to oppress the masses. Humans with too much free time cause trouble. We don’t want that.

by ITB 3y ago

CTDOCodebases 3y ago
Don't forget income tax. They have to juice the masses for productivity as well so they can be taxed!
epolanski 3y ago
> Humans with too much free time cause trouble Where is this coming from? Got any data?
- tick_tock_tick 3y ago
  Riots during the lockdown? Nothing even a fraction as intense would have happened if people weren't stuck at home.
  - godelski 3y ago
    Is the cause of those things too much free time or are they actual social problems? If the latter, was it additional time that enabled them to actually attempt to address these issues or additional stress that resulted in surpassing the requisite threshold. Obviously some combination, but do you really think the dominating __cause__ of riots or do you think "riots are the voice of the unheard" (not advocation, but a warning).
- godelski 3y ago
  I really don't get why this is such a popular belief. When you ask people what they'd do if they didn't have to work you find that they talk about hobbies, many of which have social value. Art, science, education, whatever. You do of course have to ask what they'd do after the initial relief of this burden, and specify long term rather than short term things like catching up on sleep or going on vacations. In fact, we actually have strong evidence to support this claim that people would do "work." There are plenty of people who have amassed so much wealth that their family would not need work for several generations while maintaining an extravagant lifestyle. There's 182 people with >= $10bn, which I think we can say is a pretty conservative estimate for calculating indefinite luxury (let's again be conservative and say that's $1m/yr spending per person, and a they can gain a 2.5% return per year). I don't know everyone on Forbes list, but I'd be shocked if a quarter of them did not work. Gates and Buffet have both "worked" into their old age. I don't see why an average person wouldn't either. People just get too fucking bored to not "work." Hell, look at how many open source projects there are. I'd only expect those to grow.
  - hackinthebochs 3y ago
    >I don't see why an average person wouldn't either. Some people are just hardwired to be productive. It's part of why they became billionaires. A better judge would be to look at the children of wealthy people that were born in the lap of luxury. Do their activities generally reach the potential that their status gave them, or do they waste their days on frivolous pursuits? I don't have any stats, but we all know of plenty of stories of rich children that grew up to be useless drains on their parents finances. Given the endless stream of of entertainment afforded by modern life, if people's means of living comfortably were taken care of, I bet a large portion of people receiving UBI would do nothing productive.
    - godelski 3y ago
      Another population to look at is retired people. Every one that I've seen actually has difficulties adjusting. They really aren't just sitting around watching TV all day until their bodies wear out.

It’s not those in power wanting to oppress the masses. Humans with too much free time cause trouble. We don’t want that.

by ITB 3y ago

It’s not those in power wanting to oppress the masses. Humans with too much free time cause trouble. We don’t want that.

CTDOCodebases 3y ago

Don't forget income tax. They have to juice the masses for productivity as well so they can be taxed!

epolanski 3y ago

> Humans with too much free time cause trouble Where is this coming from? Got any data?

tick_tock_tick 3y ago
Riots during the lockdown? Nothing even a fraction as intense would have happened if people weren't stuck at home.
- godelski 3y ago
  Is the cause of those things too much free time or are they actual social problems? If the latter, was it additional time that enabled them to actually attempt to address these issues or additional stress that resulted in surpassing the requisite threshold. Obviously some combination, but do you really think the dominating __cause__ of riots or do you think "riots are the voice of the unheard" (not advocation, but a warning).
godelski 3y ago
I really don't get why this is such a popular belief. When you ask people what they'd do if they didn't have to work you find that they talk about hobbies, many of which have social value. Art, science, education, whatever. You do of course have to ask what they'd do after the initial relief of this burden, and specify long term rather than short term things like catching up on sleep or going on vacations. In fact, we actually have strong evidence to support this claim that people would do "work." There are plenty of people who have amassed so much wealth that their family would not need work for several generations while maintaining an extravagant lifestyle. There's 182 people with >= $10bn, which I think we can say is a pretty conservative estimate for calculating indefinite luxury (let's again be conservative and say that's $1m/yr spending per person, and a they can gain a 2.5% return per year). I don't know everyone on Forbes list, but I'd be shocked if a quarter of them did not work. Gates and Buffet have both "worked" into their old age. I don't see why an average person wouldn't either. People just get too fucking bored to not "work." Hell, look at how many open source projects there are. I'd only expect those to grow.
- hackinthebochs 3y ago
  >I don't see why an average person wouldn't either. Some people are just hardwired to be productive. It's part of why they became billionaires. A better judge would be to look at the children of wealthy people that were born in the lap of luxury. Do their activities generally reach the potential that their status gave them, or do they waste their days on frivolous pursuits? I don't have any stats, but we all know of plenty of stories of rich children that grew up to be useless drains on their parents finances. Given the endless stream of of entertainment afforded by modern life, if people's means of living comfortably were taken care of, I bet a large portion of people receiving UBI would do nothing productive.
  - godelski 3y ago
    Another population to look at is retired people. Every one that I've seen actually has difficulties adjusting. They really aren't just sitting around watching TV all day until their bodies wear out.