4 ms·

The economy should serve man, not the other way around.

Fede_V 13y ago
It's funny how once you are inside a certain ethical paradigm, you automatically take it for granted. For example - Samurai in Edo Japan were forbidden from working, and if you didn't have a master to defend, the honorable thing to do was either starve to death, or find another master who would give you permission to kill yourself.
- wavefunction 13y ago
  That's a great way of putting it with an excellent example. I see so many man-made problems in the world that people just accept as "how things are" as if they were physical laws of reality.
mtdewcmu 13y ago
Communist, eh?
- wavefunction 13y ago
  Funny how you can take an innocuous statement like that and fit it into your fucked up worldview. Says more about you than me.
  - mtdewcmu 13y ago
    I was trying to make a joke. I like the idea that the economy should serve the worker, but I think that's essentially what Karl Marx was saying. The Cold War is over, and the future seems to belong to robots.
    - arethuza 13y ago
      You could argue Communism + Robots = The Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture
  - parasight 13y ago
    To me the comment was quite clearly ironic.
  - kika 13y ago
    This is just a classical definition of Communism by inventor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability,_to_each_according_to_his_need http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_abil... I was taught this in school. Socialism, on the other hand, is "to each according to their contribution".
- Fede_V 13y ago
  Not in the slightest, I'm afraid I'm a plain ol liberal. I also have a great job that I love. I just think it's interesting how, aside from a few moral rules which are fairly common to all of humanity (don't steal, don't kill, etc), a lot of the rules that we follow and take for granted in our current historical milieu, would be considered completely arbitrary by the rest of humanity.
- CmonDev 13y ago
  What is wrong with that? Just because an idea was ahead of time and too idealistic does not mean it's not useful or worthy. Socialistic Sweden is doing better than capitalistic USA. Look at Switzerland considering a quite generous guaranteed basic income.
  - paulhauggis 13y ago
    "What is wrong with that? Just because an idea was ahead of time and too idealistic does not mean it's not useful or worthy" Because human nature. "Socialistic Sweden is doing better than capitalistic USA." I guess it depends on what you define as "better". Innovation is very low (I don't see companies flocking there) and it's not easy to start your own business because of regulations and high taxes. Social mobility is also very low. So your choice is to move or work for a big company. I've been traveling all around Europe and Asia for the past year and I haven't found a place better than the US. Of course it has its problems, but every country does. "Look at Switzerland considering a quite generous guaranteed basic income." It was shot down rather quickly. If you know the culture of the people that live in Switzerland, it was never even an option.
    - nkoren 13y ago
      > It was shot down rather quickly. The referendum has not happened yet. You're probably confusing it with the referendum on limiting CEO pay.
CmonDev 13y ago
What if there is an overproduction of those "man"?
brc 13y ago
A functional definition of 'the economy' to me is the interaction between people trading goods and services. To try and separate it out as some type of entity seems like faulty thinking, like saying the chess game should serve the players.

It's funny how once you are inside a certain ethical paradigm, you automatically take it for granted. For example - Samurai in Edo Japan were forbidden from working, and if you didn't have a master to defend, the honorable thing to do was either starve to death, or find another master who would give you permission to kill yourself.

wavefunction 13y ago
That's a great way of putting it with an excellent example. I see so many man-made problems in the world that people just accept as "how things are" as if they were physical laws of reality.

mtdewcmu 13y ago

Communist, eh?

wavefunction 13y ago
Funny how you can take an innocuous statement like that and fit it into your fucked up worldview. Says more about you than me.
- mtdewcmu 13y ago
  I was trying to make a joke. I like the idea that the economy should serve the worker, but I think that's essentially what Karl Marx was saying. The Cold War is over, and the future seems to belong to robots.
  - arethuza 13y ago
    You could argue Communism + Robots = The Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture
- parasight 13y ago
  To me the comment was quite clearly ironic.
- kika 13y ago
  This is just a classical definition of Communism by inventor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability,_to_each_according_to_his_need http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_abil... I was taught this in school. Socialism, on the other hand, is "to each according to their contribution".
Fede_V 13y ago
Not in the slightest, I'm afraid I'm a plain ol liberal. I also have a great job that I love. I just think it's interesting how, aside from a few moral rules which are fairly common to all of humanity (don't steal, don't kill, etc), a lot of the rules that we follow and take for granted in our current historical milieu, would be considered completely arbitrary by the rest of humanity.
CmonDev 13y ago
What is wrong with that? Just because an idea was ahead of time and too idealistic does not mean it's not useful or worthy. Socialistic Sweden is doing better than capitalistic USA. Look at Switzerland considering a quite generous guaranteed basic income.
- paulhauggis 13y ago
  "What is wrong with that? Just because an idea was ahead of time and too idealistic does not mean it's not useful or worthy" Because human nature. "Socialistic Sweden is doing better than capitalistic USA." I guess it depends on what you define as "better". Innovation is very low (I don't see companies flocking there) and it's not easy to start your own business because of regulations and high taxes. Social mobility is also very low. So your choice is to move or work for a big company. I've been traveling all around Europe and Asia for the past year and I haven't found a place better than the US. Of course it has its problems, but every country does. "Look at Switzerland considering a quite generous guaranteed basic income." It was shot down rather quickly. If you know the culture of the people that live in Switzerland, it was never even an option.
  - nkoren 13y ago
    > It was shot down rather quickly. The referendum has not happened yet. You're probably confusing it with the referendum on limiting CEO pay.

CmonDev 13y ago

What if there is an overproduction of those "man"?

brc 13y ago

A functional definition of 'the economy' to me is the interaction between people trading goods and services. To try and separate it out as some type of entity seems like faulty thinking, like saying the chess game should serve the players.