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What if it were used to support students trying to learn intersectional gender theory, or help a small family replace their year-old phones, or pay for some fre
by Camillo 13y ago
What if it were used to support students trying to learn intersectional gender theory, or help a small family replace their year-old phones, or pay for some fresh grad to sit on their couch and play videogames?
I'm not trying to be provocative, it's just that you're thinking about this in the wrong way. You can't associate it with any uses that you may think beneficial or worthwhile. You need to accept that it's no-strings-attached money, otherwise you're just going to be disappointed.
- angersock 13y agoIf they want to learn intersectional gender theory, more power to them--after a time, I imagine they'll tire and move onto other, more useful pursuits. Ditto videogames and phone replacement...you can only be a consumer whore for so long before you start to feel that there's something else out there. I don't mind that it's no-strings-attached money, because I might myself want to blow my allotment on a fleeting pleasure someday. We need to give up this "keeping up with the Joneses nonsense".
- jff 13y agoI've met plenty of people who have been happily sitting around, smoking weed and playing video games all the time, and showing no sign of stopping as they barrel into their 40s.
- eropple 13y agoYou have met an anecdotal few. If you'd like to make the argument that this is a pervasive, generalizable thing, I hope you've brought your citations.
- arvinjoar 13y agoOk, so let's go with your assessment, that life-long slackers are indeed quite few. What happens when being a life-long slacker becomes acceptable in the culture (or as it might start out, in some subculture)? If slacking makes its way into culture, and becomes more accessible, isn't that potentially quite a big threat to the prosperity of future generations?
- informatimago 13y agoOpen your eyes! More than 10% of the work population is already FORCED to be life long slackers!
- eropple 13y agoWhy would it be a threat? We've multiplied individual worker productivity by fantastical amounts. I think it's vastly more likely that we will have more people who want to work than meaningful jobs in which to employ them.
- robotresearcher 13y agoLegal and funded does not mean acceptable in the culture. It's legal to go about naked in many places, but it's not often done, because it's not acceptable in the culture. Welfare already exists and while the lazy scrounger stereotype definitely exists, I feel it's worth that overhead to take care of vulnerable people and those in hard times.
- knieveltech 13y agoAnd why shouldn't they be able to do so? With a guaranteed income they would still be actively participating in the economy and whatever work niche they had inhabited before would be freed up for more motivated individuals to perform. Win win.
- jff 13y agoI'm just countering the claim that people won't sit on ass forever; not everyone is as motivated as angersock.
- knieveltech 13y agoMost assuredly some will, that's to be expected. If given a similar option I'd mothball my career over the course of six months and spend $n years engaging in unprofitable creative pursuits and maybe travel.
- jotm 13y agoBut they wouldn't actually be participating, they'd just be a middle man that takes a small cut to support their own life without providing anything useful in return (aka a parasite)... The good part is that it looks like most people wouldn't just do nothing all day long, they would contribute in one way or another...
- knieveltech 13y agoThey would be providing consumer spending. You claim this isn't useful to the economy?
- jotm 13y agoWith money that were pretty much gifted to them by other people - those people could cut the middle man and just spend it themselves...
- EricDeb 13y agoUntil we have an easy/efficient way of identifying such folk though (those who are truly capable vs those who are disabled/incapable) the most efficient solution is probably something like a minimum basic income.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y agoIs there a lot of demand at the registrar's office for intersectional gender theory courses? I haven't heard of strong demand in that subject, but I normally avoid administration buildings.