6 ms·
>we choose the society we want That's not really true. I don't think there's any meaningful sense in which anybody chose this society. We don't have that level
by jamesrcole 11y ago
>we choose the society we want
That's not really true. I don't think there's any meaningful sense in which anybody chose this society. We don't have that level of control.
- unclebucknasty 11y agoThen we should dispense with the admonitions about reducing our focus on "the game", work, etc. in order to focus on "what's truly important in life". Eating is important.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoThat's why more and more people are pushing towards things like basic income and achieving self-sustaining technology levels. Because when basic sustenance is free to everyone and required maintenance work is minimized, one is free to focus on "truly important things in life" and do meaningful work, instead of engaging in bullshit jobs and "games" to earn the bread for oneself and their family.
- unclebucknasty 11y agoI agree with your comments, including your assertion that basic income is an implementation of this sentiment. But, we aren't nearly there yet, even while we as a society nearly unanimously espouse that people are more important than work, etc. This is part of what I find to be disingenuous. And, many of those who argue against a BI would also agree with the notion that friends and family are more important than work. In any case, the current state of affairs is that we must eat to work (and feed those we love). In this context, admonishing people to prioritize people over work is disingenuous nearly cruel.
- noir-york 11y agoOh yes we do! Every time we vote. Every society makes choices about what it values most. Values prized in Anglo-Saxon economy is freedom and individualism. Asians see it differently. Nordic and Mediterranean societies value social welfare. Take universal health care; what some see as 'communism' is to others the perfectly obvious logic that every human being deserves health care by virtue of being a human being, and not based on the size of their wallet.
- jamesrcole 11y agoI think that's a ridiculous simplification.
- noir-york 11y ago> I don't think there's any meaningful sense in which anybody chose this society. I just showed you how: the vote. Just because its simple does not make it ridiculous.
- jamesrcole 11y agoVoting is the collective result of individual's votes. There's no sense in which it reflects an individual's choice. Nor is it like there's a singular "we" that has made a choice.
- unclebucknasty 11y agoWe collectively like to say that what's really important is not work or "the game", but relationships, friends, family, etc. It's repeated so often that it's cliche, and if a person were to say that work was more important than family, we'd nearly unanimously frown upon it. And, we collectively vote and make other choices about our society. Broken as our democracy is, there is a significant portion of the electorate that expresses a will that seems incompatible with our supposed human priorities. BTW, we also decide, individually, what we will allow. The cost of our choices may be "high" (e.g. Snowden), but we choose nonetheless.
- vezzy-fnord 11y ago"The vote" isn't of much help in a single-party election. Nor does "the vote" imply the underlying voting system meets a threshold of efficiency, that externalities do not undermine the efficacy of "the vote", or that many policies are even subject to "the vote" to begin with. This idiotic grade school idea of "democracy" as a warm and fuzzy godlike essence helps no one and only poisons discussions.