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Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

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Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#61

Post by homeomorphic »

luscious wrote: post #35
SolarNet wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why don't these people get jobs?" Because: THERE. ARE. NOT. ENOUGH. JOBS. * The economy crashed a while ago. We still haven't recovered all the jobs we lost, by either absolute or percentage. * Increased automation and efficiency is slowly removing those jobs you just described. Exec, a YCombinator app, makes a more efficient and automated solution to craigslist cleaning jobs. This is happening in every sector in th…

There are always enough jobs. There aren't enough jobs that people are willing to do for the money others are willing to pay. If I knew someone near me was living on The problem isn't a lack of jobs, it's the draining of capital flow that happen when the monetary system dries up. Whether you believe that to be unfairness or just some players being so adept at the game... that doesn't matter. The ball needs to move or…

> The problem isn't a lack of jobs, it's the draining of capital flow that happen when the monetary system dries up. Whether you believe that to be unfairness or just some players being so adept at the game... that doesn't matter.

> The ball needs to move or people who want to play the game will be sitting out. If the ball is kept moving, even artificially, anyone who wants to play will get to play. The only ones left out would be willingly out or mentally/physically unable to play at all.

What you're saying may be true now, but surely it won't always be true? Who's to say that every mundane task won't (relatively soon) be automated? We need to start thinking about how we should deal with this.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#62

Post by lingben »

michaelwww wrote: post #54
Taylorious wrote: post #50

Love the picture of the "homeless" guy using a laptop newer than mine, with his pet, nice bike, playing a video game while he smokes a cig. He also has an energy drink... as if he needs it to get through his day of sitting around. It's people like him who are hurting the homeless people that are actually in need.

Yes, because homeless people should have nothing and suffer as much as possible because they can't afford rent.

No, it is about priorities. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#63

Post by ceejayoz »

hooande wrote: post #29

There were a few points that the article didn't bring up. I was surprised that they didn't discuss the speculative value of bitcoins. There's no way that the value of a dollar in your pocket will suddenly double, but the value of a bitcoin has and will again. Obviously volatility isn't all fun...would you want your salary paid in bitcions? In the current market you might actually come out ahead over the next few year…

> There's no way that the value of a dollar in your pocket will suddenly double, but the value of a bitcoin has and will again.

It might again.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#64

Post by rorrr2 »

mrb wrote: post #34
rorrr2 wrote: post #6

The math doesn't add up. At "0.000133 bitcoins a day" it would take 7518 days (more than 20 years) to make one bitcoin. At "0.0004 bitcoins" per video it would take 2500 videos to watch to make one bitcoin. The amount of wasted human capital is insane. Why don't these people get jobs? There are tons of posts on Craigslist for jobs that don't require any education - delivery, waiters, busboys, cleaning, etc.

"At 0.0004 bitcoins per video it would take 2500 videos to watch to make one bitcoin." You seem confused by the divisibility of bitcoin. His goal is not to make one whole bitcoin, but probably to watch ~100 videos (3-4 hours total?) which is 0.04 bitcoins which is enough to buy a meal (~$5). Also the article is poorly worded but it sounds like the homeless guy is not taking advantage of the 0.000133 btc per day offer…

The article says he made 3-5 bitcoins.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#65

Post by mkr-hn »

seansoutpost wrote: post #13
knowaveragejoe wrote: post #10

It seems to me that it is not a property of bitcoin or cryptocurrency itself that is allowing these folks to supplement their income with "manual" labor. Instead it feels like the fact that it's a new, relatively unexploited market that is enabling these ventures to scrape together the people and resources necessary by using extremely thin margins. I can't imagine this will be viable for long as more people get into…

Im really surprised that doesn't exist yet. YC applications still open? :)

There are already microtask sites similar to Mechanical Turk that pay in bitcoin.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#66

Post by NovemberWest »

Taylorious wrote: post #50

Love the picture of the "homeless" guy using a laptop newer than mine, with his pet, nice bike, playing a video game while he smokes a cig. He also has an energy drink... as if he needs it to get through his day of sitting around. It's people like him who are hurting the homeless people that are actually in need.

You do not know the backstory here. The laptop and bike may have been purchased when he still had housing. Ending up homeless does not mean you are automatically stripped of all worldly possessions. A laptop and bike are very valuable to have on the street. In a digital world, being able to stay connected can help you do things like job hunt so you can get off the street again. And playing a video game so you don't fucking lose your mind can be time very well spent.

I find such remarks incredibly annoying given the importance of the "digital divide" in separating rich from poor. Criticizing a homeless person for hanging onto a laptop as their only path out of poverty amounts to hatred and a desire to keep them a permanent member of the underclass with no way out. I value my computer far more than I valued the crappy apartment I was evicted from. I always have.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#67

Post by Helianthus »

luscious wrote: post #35
SolarNet wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why don't these people get jobs?" Because: THERE. ARE. NOT. ENOUGH. JOBS. * The economy crashed a while ago. We still haven't recovered all the jobs we lost, by either absolute or percentage. * Increased automation and efficiency is slowly removing those jobs you just described. Exec, a YCombinator app, makes a more efficient and automated solution to craigslist cleaning jobs. This is happening in every sector in th…

There are always enough jobs. There aren't enough jobs that people are willing to do for the money others are willing to pay. If I knew someone near me was living on The problem isn't a lack of jobs, it's the draining of capital flow that happen when the monetary system dries up. Whether you believe that to be unfairness or just some players being so adept at the game... that doesn't matter. The ball needs to move or…

>There are always enough jobs. There aren't enough jobs that people are willing to do for the money others are willing to pay.

Nice. "Work willing to be done for others willing to pay" is what defines a job. It only took you two sentences to make the rest of your post into rubbish capitalist handwaving.

>If I knew someone near me was living on Please do this actually. Someone near you is living on "It's not practical!" you'll say. That's because nothing you're saying is actually practical enough to be realistic.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#68

Post by Loughla »

kjackson2012 wrote: post #46
_delirium wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comments on general news sites tend to be cesspools in general. Oddly, the same people posting weird vitriol about how America is being ruined by freeloading parasites seem to be: 1) not highly educated; and 2) able to spend hours and hours a day posting angry comments on news websites. I wonder where they're getting their own income from. Are they all retirees and students? People on SS disability? Stay-at-home pare…

I'm politically centrist, supporting neither the Republicans nor the Democrats. I was opposed to the recent $40B food stamp cuts that the Republicans passed in the House, until I read this article. Angie appears to be collecting food stamps, instead of trying to find a real job, which it sounds like he could get. The premise of the Food Stamp cuts were that eligibility was too broad, and people were abusing the syste…

I genuinely hope this is a troll comment.

If one instance of something happening is enough to sway your world-view, you're in for a rough ride.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#69

Post by fps »

Taylorious wrote: post #50

Love the picture of the "homeless" guy using a laptop newer than mine, with his pet, nice bike, playing a video game while he smokes a cig. He also has an energy drink... as if he needs it to get through his day of sitting around. It's people like him who are hurting the homeless people that are actually in need.

That's a $319 laptop (http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-G505-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/...) and, while I can see the brand of the bike, that's likely a less than $150 bike when it was brand new. Pit bulls/boxers are basically free at any dog shelter. The average rent price of apartments in Pensacola Fl (where he lives) is $819/month, and the cheapest apartment I could find was $600/month, with proof of income and first and last month's rent paid in advance ($1200.) I bet they probably won't take his bitcoin blockchain as proof of income for that apartment.

So, he has spent less than 1/3rd of what he'd need for an apartment on 2 items that provide him income, entertainment and transportation and you're complaining that he doesn't "look homeless enough."

EDIT: the "energy drink" in one picture is a monster branded water bottle, but in another picture there are clearly cans of Monster on the bench.

Re: Homeless, Unemployed, and Surviving on Bitcoins

#70

Post by rorrr2 »

oleganza wrote: post #20
rorrr2 wrote: post #6

The math doesn't add up. At "0.000133 bitcoins a day" it would take 7518 days (more than 20 years) to make one bitcoin. At "0.0004 bitcoins" per video it would take 2500 videos to watch to make one bitcoin. The amount of wasted human capital is insane. Why don't these people get jobs? There are tons of posts on Craigslist for jobs that don't require any education - delivery, waiters, busboys, cleaning, etc.

When I hear about "wasted capital" I imagine some central planner in a uniform from 1950s. Or North Korea. These guys do have jobs: they are doing work for money. Even if the work is to sit on a street panhandling. Those who donate buy themselves some good feelings. If you don't like that trade, don't do it or pay for it. Simple. Why don't you get up at 5 AM and work till midnight like Tim Cook? What a waste of resou…

> they are doing work for money

They are doing one of the least productive things I can imagine. They are actually wasting public electricity and services.

It's fine if they are mentally ill, or disabled, but I doubt that's the case.

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