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Indeed. If you destroy housing costs [1], medical costs with single payer [2], and energy costs with renewables [3], that gets you to Abundance everyone so des

Indeed. If you destroy housing costs [1], medical costs with single payer [2], and energy costs with renewables [3], that gets you to Abundance everyone so desperately opines about. But too much of the country is driven by the inefficiency (rent seeking, broadly speaking), that is the US system and the economy. That is all the country builds anymore. We collectively know what the foundational problems are, there is simply no political will to course correct. Increased supply will disempower the extraction system. AI replaces jobs people need to survive, but does not fix anything I've enumerated; in some cases, it even makes the problem worse (algorithmic price fixing [RealPage] and price discrimination [Instacart], for example). I would like to imagine a world with enough housing for every human, affordable, accessible medical care for all, and cheap clean energy deployed at scale. When is AI going to deliver that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_wha... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43119657 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43119657 (housing cost citations) [2] Health Care Costs and Affordability - https://www.kff.org/health-costs/health-policy-101-health-care-costs-and-affordability/?entry=table-of-contents-how-has-u-s-health-care-spending-changed-over-time https://www.kff.org/health-costs/health-policy-101-health-ca... - October 8th, 2025 [3] U.S. electricity prices continue steady increase - https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65284 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65284 - May 14th, 2025

card_zero 10mo ago
I don't understand POSIWID at all. "Purpose" is inherently good intention and moral judgement.
- cameron_b 10mo ago
  The main token in POSWID seems to apply to reasonably mature instances of S for which several passes have been taken through the build loop. Once someone has edited the thing, it is reasonable to assume that the outputs are the fruits of the intentions.
  - card_zero 10mo ago
    Oh, so it's more like "the purpose of a system emerges".
    - toomuchtodo 10mo ago
      Yes.
bluGill 10mo ago
What would people spend that excess on if they had it? Adam Smith observed that most people spent it in nicer houses. While I think there is a limit I think for most we would turn around an spend that extra on a nicer house and return to living paycheck to paycheck hoping we have enough to make the end of the month after paying for it. Nicer cars would likely take a good portion of the difference as well.
- toomuchtodo 10mo ago
  > What would people spend that excess on if they had it? Humans do not exist to be extracted from for their basic needs imho, which is how the current system is configured, so this is not an excuse to keep extraction systems in place. Give humans a 4 day work week if the argument is "what else would you spend this money on?" with the excess. Humans do not exist for the profits of others, again, imho. I understand others have different opinions on this topic. https://4dayweek.com/ https://4dayweek.com/ | https://workfour.org/ https://workfour.org/ | https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=%224%20day%20week%22&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... It might even help with the cratering fertility rate across the developed world. https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ https://thezvi.substack.com/p/fertility-roundup-5-causation https://thezvi.substack.com/p/fertility-roundup-5-causation "What if we put all of this effort in and all that happens is people live better lives!?" sounds...silly, no?
  - bluGill 10mo ago
    What you think others should do it not relevant. The question is what will they do. If someone wants a 5 day work week and a larger house instead of a 4 day work week who are you to force them to do otherwise? It is perfectly possible to get a 2 or 3 day work week if you want - most jobs won't offer it, but the possibility exists if you are willing for the sacrifices - most are not (though it isn't clear if they even realize the option exist)
    - toomuchtodo 10mo ago

card_zero 10mo ago

I don't understand POSIWID at all. "Purpose" is inherently good intention and moral judgement.

cameron_b 10mo ago
The main token in POSWID seems to apply to reasonably mature instances of S for which several passes have been taken through the build loop. Once someone has edited the thing, it is reasonable to assume that the outputs are the fruits of the intentions.
- card_zero 10mo ago
  Oh, so it's more like "the purpose of a system emerges".
  - toomuchtodo 10mo ago
    Yes.

bluGill 10mo ago

What would people spend that excess on if they had it? Adam Smith observed that most people spent it in nicer houses. While I think there is a limit I think for most we would turn around an spend that extra on a nicer house and return to living paycheck to paycheck hoping we have enough to make the end of the month after paying for it. Nicer cars would likely take a good portion of the difference as well.

toomuchtodo 10mo ago
> What would people spend that excess on if they had it? Humans do not exist to be extracted from for their basic needs imho, which is how the current system is configured, so this is not an excuse to keep extraction systems in place. Give humans a 4 day work week if the argument is "what else would you spend this money on?" with the excess. Humans do not exist for the profits of others, again, imho. I understand others have different opinions on this topic. https://4dayweek.com/ https://4dayweek.com/ | https://workfour.org/ https://workfour.org/ | https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=%224%20day%20week%22&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... It might even help with the cratering fertility rate across the developed world. https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ https://thezvi.substack.com/p/fertility-roundup-5-causation https://thezvi.substack.com/p/fertility-roundup-5-causation "What if we put all of this effort in and all that happens is people live better lives!?" sounds...silly, no?
- bluGill 10mo ago
  What you think others should do it not relevant. The question is what will they do. If someone wants a 5 day work week and a larger house instead of a 4 day work week who are you to force them to do otherwise? It is perfectly possible to get a 2 or 3 day work week if you want - most jobs won't offer it, but the possibility exists if you are willing for the sacrifices - most are not (though it isn't clear if they even realize the option exist)
  - toomuchtodo 10mo ago