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I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

itsmevox.substack.com

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Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#391

Post by encrypted_bird »

germandiago wrote: post #376
WarmWash wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why we pass laws making it illegal to not produce excess. Take that capitalist pig!

I see, so you are suggesting making black markets appear. Good, I see you studied economic history a lot... There is no way around this, believe me. Not sure why you call pigs to people producing actually. That is how things end up working. Not waiting for people to produce fornyou while you insult them amd try to set infinite restrictions until they do what you want... which by the way looks to me like modern slaver…

Just as an aside, I suspect the last line had an implied "/s". If so, I think they really should have included it.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#392

Post by mbac32768 »

> It’s there every time you meet someone new and one of their first questions is, “What do you do?” They’re not asking about your passions, your hobbies, or the mundane human tasks that take up most of your time. They’re asking how you make money. How you turn yourself into income.

For the longest time whenever I'd meet someone at a party I would ask "so, what do you spend your time on?" because I specifically didn't want to box them into asking how they make money. I wanted to hear about their passions or hobbies or even the mundane tasks.

Instead, pretty much everyone told me about their jobs.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#393

Post by gymbeaux »

qwytw wrote: post #260
avalys wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they are JS frameworks that enable other engineers to build applications that support farms, and banks, and taxi services and insurance companies and mines and factories, etc. then obviously that is productive. If someone is willingly paying money for their labor then I see little point in questioning the worth of that exchange. When JS engineers start asking for public money to support them writing JS frameworks…

Cost of labor is based on supply and demand not the value created. If there were more engineers capable of creating those JS frameworks than there was demand for they'd get paid way less and whoever was paying them would pocket the difference. While a "Javascript Framework engineer" is a very neutral example how do you feel about the engineers working on ads, making exploitive predatory video games, gambling apps etc…

You’re assuming supply and demand is logical or efficient but like the stock market it’s often irrational and driven by some C Suite who doesn’t know what he’s doing. FAANG blew billions over hiring software engineers in 2021-2022 and often paid engineers to do effectively nothing for months or years. Despite their very high salaries, these individuals contributed nothing to society in exchange.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#394

Post by gymbeaux »

bjertoref wrote: post #214
avalys wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who produces the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the energy you use, the medicine you consume, etc. while you airily define ‘productivity’ as reading the classics and spending time with friends?

Stephen Hawking wouldn't exist in our society if we didn't care for people like him.

He was an established prodigy before he needed in-home nursing care. I suspect he’d have been taken care of regardless of access to socialized healthcare.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#395

Post by throwaway837379 »

xbmcuser wrote: post #221
smallmancontrov wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't discipline capitalism with a firm hand, double insulation guarantees that it takes over the government.

I agree with you. I don't believe pure capitalism or pure socialism works; we need something in between. China is somewhat like that, but because of the type of government it has, it is viewed with a jaundiced eye. Countries exist for their citizens, so things like healthcare, housing, and most infrastructure should be provided or subsidized by the government.

Whose effort should be taxed more to provide money to subsidize it?

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#397

Post by reverius42 »

inigyou wrote: post #344
senordevnyc wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether we as a society support those who cannot productively contribute is orthogonal to capitalism. Capitalism itself has nothing to say about what we do with the increases in productivity. You can see this in many developed countries, which have wealth and surplus thanks to their capitalistic markets, but they also have high taxes and a strong safety net.

Capitalism means resource allocation is primarily decided by billionaires. Why would they give resources up in any way that doesn't make them even richer?

No, the term for what you describe is "oligarchy".

Under "capitalism", the invisible hand of the free market is supposed to decide resource allocation.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#398

Post by squigz »

mbac32768 wrote: post #392

> It’s there every time you meet someone new and one of their first questions is, “What do you do?” They’re not asking about your passions, your hobbies, or the mundane human tasks that take up most of your time. They’re asking how you make money. How you turn yourself into income. For the longest time whenever I'd meet someone at a party I would ask "so, what do you spend your time on?" because I specifically didn't…

Probably because a lot of people spend a lot of time at their jobs :)

I prefer "what do you like to do", personally

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