Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

capitaldaily.ca

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 390 posts

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#171

Post by imtringued »

noduerme wrote: post #167
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #74

I’m not sure living in the city off handouts, charity, and free tax payer provided facilities exactly promotes his no money philosophy. His life relies on the things he despises, if the economic collapse he predicts comes he will be among the first to starve to death. Go into the wild and grow/hunt food or trade some skill - the post money society doesn’t need philosopher poets scavenging cigarettes from trash cans

I've heard the nobility of homelessness and joblessness expressed as an ethos countless times by people who wouldn't care for the work of living off-grid. I happen to work in a town with some of the highest taxes in the country that's also one of the most attractive places for indigent campers. The park across from where I live has become a tent city. I get the pleasure of paying for its "upkeep" while also having to…

He also has an unhealthy relationship with money. Withholding money from being spent is immoral because that money is needed to pay debts and saving money causes unemployment. Spending all the money you get is moral. Of course you are allowed to spend your money on stocks and bonds to maintain real savings.

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#172

Post by xondono »

mikem170 wrote: post #61
kangnkodos wrote: post #17

He wants everyone to suddenly stop using money. If that happened, who would wash the dishes? Many communes have failed over this exact issue. They go on for several years with several people, usually women, making the sacrifice and doing what needs to be done. But eventually, the people who do the dishes get fed up and stop, or leave. And then the whole thing collapses. The alternative is for the leaders to have some…

Before money people traded favors. You help me butcher my cow, I help you rebuild your house (which was more work then the cow), so maybe later on your brother helps fix my plow knowing he'll eventually get something in return, and now I am trading favors with you and your brother, etc. This bonded people. It would have been insulting to say "here are two chickens for your lamb, we are now even, I owe you nothing eve…

> Money originated as a way for kings to pay troops, who operated outside these village economies.

That’s one theory, and it’s not even the one Graeber preferred. According to him (and supporting evidence) money originated as a way to “keep score” of debts.

The question of the origin of money is an interesting one, but that will be probably be unsolvable, since some of the alternative theories (like barter) would leave little to no evidence.

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#173

Post by glitchc »

The monks of old (Eastern and Western philosophies) would live off the largesse of others in terms of food, clothing and shelter. They gave back in the form of teachings and wisdom or a temporary place to stay for travelers, without judgement or payment.

This man is just taking, and not giving anything back. That makes him a mooch, and little more.

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#175

Post by manmal »

anm89 wrote: post #174

This guy isn't living without money. He's just living with other people's money. If he was living off the land that would be cool but that's not what's going on here.

He’s trading his attention for other services and goods. Some people are paid for talking to other people - he just receives food and shelter instead.

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#176

Post by manmal »

nootropicat wrote: post #91

Alternative title: a bum glamorizes his parasitic lifestyle. Money is one of many solutions designed to allocate resources on a large scale. Of course, there are others, but he doesn't propose any alternative system. He's just a parasite. A pre-industrial society most likely wouldn't be able to support his existence so easily and he would either starve to death or start working.

I agree to some extent, but what’s the purpose of using such dehumanizing language?

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#177

Post by exolymph »

knighthack wrote: post #72
kangnkodos wrote: post #17

He wants everyone to suddenly stop using money. If that happened, who would wash the dishes? Many communes have failed over this exact issue. They go on for several years with several people, usually women, making the sacrifice and doing what needs to be done. But eventually, the people who do the dishes get fed up and stop, or leave. And then the whole thing collapses. The alternative is for the leaders to have some…

> They go on for several years with several people, usually women, making the sacrifice and doing what needs to be done. While I agree with most of what's said above, the proposition about "usually women, making the sacrifice" is dubious at best, if not untrue. In any society or commune few will lead - the rest will be workers or followers. These will be both men and women, and they will both suffer from necessary sa…

Have you ever been a dinner party? Perhaps several? Observe who clears away the dishes.

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#178

Post by imtringued »

saltdoo wrote: post #142
an_opabinia wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We could probably 10x the number of “handouts” as you call them, at least in the US, and nothing would change. We’ve auditioned it already: $4T in stimulus, the $600/wk employment checks, etc. What negative negative impact really did that have on an average person’s day to day life? “Handouts” made pay rise for the first time in decades. Even the landlords. I don’t know any landlords who are on the street because of…

Rising inflation says otherwise. Worst effects may be yet to come.

Inflation is bad for lenders (i.e. people keeping deposits in USD). People who work get paid based on their real value which means their pay rises if inflation rises. Of course it maybe difficult to get a raise for your current job but switching jobs will get you a raise that catches up to inflation.

Here is a chart: https://imgur.com/a/eOXF0UO

Note that there has been a shift in bargaining power since 1980 that is closing. That gap is not the result of inflation because inflation alone doesn't give employers bargaining power. If anything it increases bargaining power of employees vs the old job because the new job always pays more in nominal terms.

Re: A Victoria man has gone two decades without money

#179

Post by aunty_helen »

noduerme wrote: post #167
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #74

I’m not sure living in the city off handouts, charity, and free tax payer provided facilities exactly promotes his no money philosophy. His life relies on the things he despises, if the economic collapse he predicts comes he will be among the first to starve to death. Go into the wild and grow/hunt food or trade some skill - the post money society doesn’t need philosopher poets scavenging cigarettes from trash cans

I've heard the nobility of homelessness and joblessness expressed as an ethos countless times by people who wouldn't care for the work of living off-grid. I happen to work in a town with some of the highest taxes in the country that's also one of the most attractive places for indigent campers. The park across from where I live has become a tent city. I get the pleasure of paying for its "upkeep" while also having to…

>At best as a society itself, it's a drum circle, getting high, talking about the universe without doing anything much, and escaping.

People have different values. Long ago we forgot that if it's not shown on mtv as something to aspire towards it's not the best pursuit of our time.

All the best chasing that lambo you'll never afford whilst looking over your shoulder at others smart enough not to get into that game.

Post reply on HN