5 ms·

If you consider this argument fully, It's hard to defend retirement - or anything else people do without profit motives. I'm listening to music without any exp

If you consider this argument fully, It's hard to defend retirement - or anything else people do without profit motives. I'm listening to music without any expectation of profit, giving up time I could spend making money. I consider this life enrichment. Actually, besides opportunity costs, I paid literal cash money to be able to do this.

SilasX 11y ago
You're not forgoing four years of wages, and taking out an undischargeable house-sized loan to listen to that music though -- that's the point. That is, the problem isn't that "enrichment is bad", or that everything must have a monetary return, but that "it's not a high enough priority at that point in the typical such person's life to spend that much on it" if it were just an issue of enrichment. It's like the Burdian's Ass scenario, except the donkey starves while learning the most enlightened way to choose a bale of hay to eat.
capisce 11y ago
Most people do not put higher education in the same category as retirement, they see it as a means to an end.
obstinate 11y ago
Retirement is generally taken once you have "enough". I suppose you could argue that college is simply pushing back retirement -- taking some of that self enrichment time early -- but that is not a good analysis. See, when you retire, you already have obtained. When you enter university, you merely hope to. The music analogy you tried makes no sense to me. You cannot work 24/7. You are not in any reasonable sense forgoing wages you could have earned by listening to music. If you quit your job to listen to music eight hours a day for four years, I would argue that you are either a fool or very wealthy, and I don't think I'd find many to disagree with me.
- nmrm2 11y ago
  Social Security. Medicare. Tax breaks for certain types of saving/investing. Tax breaks of property ownership. The government subsidizes retirement in a plethora of ways.

SilasX 11y ago

You're not forgoing four years of wages, and taking out an undischargeable house-sized loan to listen to that music though -- that's the point. That is, the problem isn't that "enrichment is bad", or that everything must have a monetary return, but that "it's not a high enough priority at that point in the typical such person's life to spend that much on it" if it were just an issue of enrichment. It's like the Burdian's Ass scenario, except the donkey starves while learning the most enlightened way to choose a bale of hay to eat.

capisce 11y ago

Most people do not put higher education in the same category as retirement, they see it as a means to an end.

obstinate 11y ago

Retirement is generally taken once you have "enough". I suppose you could argue that college is simply pushing back retirement -- taking some of that self enrichment time early -- but that is not a good analysis. See, when you retire, you already have obtained. When you enter university, you merely hope to. The music analogy you tried makes no sense to me. You cannot work 24/7. You are not in any reasonable sense forgoing wages you could have earned by listening to music. If you quit your job to listen to music eight hours a day for four years, I would argue that you are either a fool or very wealthy, and I don't think I'd find many to disagree with me.

nmrm2 11y ago
Social Security. Medicare. Tax breaks for certain types of saving/investing. Tax breaks of property ownership. The government subsidizes retirement in a plethora of ways.