2 ms·

If we assume that very many people will be unemployed there will need to be a complete change in political focus towards supporting society rather than the indi

If we assume that very many people will be unemployed there will need to be a complete change in political focus towards supporting society rather than the individual. That is, wealth will need to be directed to those who need it rather than those who can grab it. The USA is one of the least politically prepared for that, but contains the wealth to resolve it. We will live in interesting times.

graemep 2y ago
> That is, wealth will need to be directed to those who need it rather than those who can grab it. That is a huge political change that will be strongly = resisted. Do you recognise the quote "to each according to his needs"? It is what you are suggesting, and the very opposite of the thinking that dominates the world (not just the US, these days). > We will live in interesting times. Certainly, but it will be very turbulent, and very likely violent. Even previously stable societies are clearly a lot less stable if you look at the political changes and the hostility between different political groups (the move from those on the other side being just "wrong" to being "evil" - "worse than Nazis" to quote a prominent British politician). I would say we live in scary times.
- beardyw 2y ago
  > Do you recognise the quote Yes, of course I did see the parallel, but I think raking over old quotes doesn't help keep a clear mind. Wikipedia - February Revolution describes Russia's failure to ...modernise its archaic social, economic, and political structures while maintaining the stability of ubiquitous devotion to an autocratic monarch. Sounds familiar?
  - graemep 2y ago
    I agree about not raking over old quotes, but people will. Any attempt to do what you are suggesting will be labelled "communism" or similar. Of course communism is not the only value system I remember an Yes Minister episode (I cannot recall which one) in which some one quotes that and Hacker guesses the source of the quote is Jesus. Not an unreasonable guess. The problem is that whatever values you base the justification of the change on, they have to be radically different from that of the current political consensus. > Wikipedia - February Revolution describes Russia's failure to The problem is what that lead to. Not something I want to live through, or want my children to live through.
    - beardyw 2y ago
      > what you are suggesting will be labelled "communism" or similar I am definitely not suggesting communism. What I laid out was the problem and how, without insurrection, it could be mitigated.
      - graemep 2y ago
        I am not saying it is communism. I am saying it will be labelled communism by those who oppose it.

graemep 2y ago

> That is, wealth will need to be directed to those who need it rather than those who can grab it. That is a huge political change that will be strongly = resisted. Do you recognise the quote "to each according to his needs"? It is what you are suggesting, and the very opposite of the thinking that dominates the world (not just the US, these days). > We will live in interesting times. Certainly, but it will be very turbulent, and very likely violent. Even previously stable societies are clearly a lot less stable if you look at the political changes and the hostility between different political groups (the move from those on the other side being just "wrong" to being "evil" - "worse than Nazis" to quote a prominent British politician). I would say we live in scary times.

beardyw 2y ago
> Do you recognise the quote Yes, of course I did see the parallel, but I think raking over old quotes doesn't help keep a clear mind. Wikipedia - February Revolution describes Russia's failure to ...modernise its archaic social, economic, and political structures while maintaining the stability of ubiquitous devotion to an autocratic monarch. Sounds familiar?
- graemep 2y ago
  I agree about not raking over old quotes, but people will. Any attempt to do what you are suggesting will be labelled "communism" or similar. Of course communism is not the only value system I remember an Yes Minister episode (I cannot recall which one) in which some one quotes that and Hacker guesses the source of the quote is Jesus. Not an unreasonable guess. The problem is that whatever values you base the justification of the change on, they have to be radically different from that of the current political consensus. > Wikipedia - February Revolution describes Russia's failure to The problem is what that lead to. Not something I want to live through, or want my children to live through.
  - beardyw 2y ago
    > what you are suggesting will be labelled "communism" or similar I am definitely not suggesting communism. What I laid out was the problem and how, without insurrection, it could be mitigated.
    - graemep 2y ago
      I am not saying it is communism. I am saying it will be labelled communism by those who oppose it.