4 ms·

Yes. A human mind is a terrible thing to waste. Plenty of people don't look for more fulfilling work because what they already have is "good enough" and it brin

Yes. A human mind is a terrible thing to waste. Plenty of people don't look for more fulfilling work because what they already have is "good enough" and it brings home a paycheck that supports the people who depend on them. Oftentimes, people need a push, and doing so can be an act of compassion. Laying people off is not some death sentence; it's a disruptive event that well-adjusted people will recover from. That's ultimately their private responsibility, not the company's, certainly not the company's in a day and age where few people work their entire career for the same employer anymore. Furthermore, a society where there is massive unemployment but society's economic engines are humming along, mostly automated, for the benefit of a select private few, is a society where such engines are ripe for nationalization, whether that be through public ownership or public seizure of the majority of the profits via taxation, either one of which could support basic income. So again, not necessarily a bad thing in the end. And if you think people blowing their basic income checks on panem et circenses represents some kind of civic death, I would point to the current alternative, people working bullshit jobs of questionable value, and ask if that really represents the civic virtue you're trying to uphold.

JohnFen 3y ago
> Oftentimes, people need a push, and doing so can be an act of compassion. Only if those people have asked for the push. If they haven't, then it's not at all an act of compassion.
ThrowAway1922A 3y ago
> it's a disruptive event that well-adjusted people will recover from. Some of us are not well adjusted. Some of us are barely hanging on, barely able to manage the demands of our lives and our society. Being laid off at this point for me would be worse than disruptive it would be an outright disaster.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Let's create a hypothetical McDonald's worker, imbued at birth with extraordinary intelligence and capability. They have a family and are the primary means of support. They're laid off. Parent post's "act of compassion" What happens? In the US, they have unemployment benefits. They have SNAP. That's probably it as far as immediate. They hypothetically have access to Section 8 housing, but that's contingent on finding availability (current wait-lists are long and conditions of properties variable). There are some academic / training programs (merit and need-based), but I believe those are all state-administered? IOW, in the US, not great. I don't have high confidence that housing and initial retraining would be financially/practically attainable to allow them to take advantage of their abilities. Honestly, in the US, most reliable option for that person would be to join the military.

JohnFen 3y ago

> Oftentimes, people need a push, and doing so can be an act of compassion. Only if those people have asked for the push. If they haven't, then it's not at all an act of compassion.

ThrowAway1922A 3y ago

> it's a disruptive event that well-adjusted people will recover from. Some of us are not well adjusted. Some of us are barely hanging on, barely able to manage the demands of our lives and our society. Being laid off at this point for me would be worse than disruptive it would be an outright disaster.

ethbr1 3y ago
Let's create a hypothetical McDonald's worker, imbued at birth with extraordinary intelligence and capability. They have a family and are the primary means of support. They're laid off. Parent post's "act of compassion" What happens? In the US, they have unemployment benefits. They have SNAP. That's probably it as far as immediate. They hypothetically have access to Section 8 housing, but that's contingent on finding availability (current wait-lists are long and conditions of properties variable). There are some academic / training programs (merit and need-based), but I believe those are all state-administered? IOW, in the US, not great. I don't have high confidence that housing and initial retraining would be financially/practically attainable to allow them to take advantage of their abilities. Honestly, in the US, most reliable option for that person would be to join the military.