F*** WORK

[heydaralon]

In The Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell describes the how the doctrinal socialists are all from the middle- and upper-classes and profess to want to smash class hierarchies, yet desperately protect their own class distinctions at any costs.

(Orwell was a Socialist who fought for the Communists during the Spanish civ war, for context)

Some things never change.

(another interesting point Orwell makes in TRtWP: he says that many plain folks main objection to socialism derives from the fact that the average professed socialist is a shitty member of society)

Also that socialism is boring. I think that's the one where he talks about "the brain in the bottle." People want stability and safety, but they also want excitement and adventure. Orwell thought that socialism appeared antithetical to people's notion of an exciting life.

[apeman]

In The Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell describes the how the doctrinal socialists are all from the middle- and upper-classes and profess to want to smash class hierarchies, yet desperately protect their own class distinctions at any costs.

(Orwell was a Socialist who fought for the Communists during the Spanish civ war, for context)

Some things never change.

(another interesting point Orwell makes in TRtWP: he says that many plain folks main objection to socialism derives from the fact that the average professed socialist is a shitty member of society)

Also that socialism is boring. I think that's the one where he talks about "the brain in the bottle." People want stability and safety, but they also want excitement and adventure. Orwell thought that socialism appeared antithetical to people's notion of an exciting life.

I still have 40 pages left, so maybe I haven't touched on that.

BTW, watching a socialist first attack socialism from all angles before attempting his defense of it is really refreshing, I have a lot of respect for Orwell, and what's more, he put his skin in the game after all the preaching and went to war in a foreign country over his beliefs.

[DBTrek]

Loneliness Epidemic Growing into Biggest Threat to Public Health

Loneliness and social isolation could be a greater public health hazard than obesity, and their impact will continue to grow, according to research presented at the 125th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need — crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment,” said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University.

“Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

Approximately 42.6 million adults over age 45 in the United States are estimated to be suffering from chronic loneliness, according to AARP’s Loneliness Study.

In addition, the most recent U.S. census data shows more than a quarter of the population lives alone, more than half of the population is unmarried and, since the previous census, marriage rates and the number of children per household have declined. . . .

https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/08/0 ... 24226.html

Hmmmm . . . you know what could solve this? Complete reliance on government handouts to guarantee citizens that they will never have to interact with anyone else to meet their survival needs (aka UBI). Yep. Nothing like being utterly dependent, utterly alone, and utterly useless to your society to really get a civilization kick-started in a healthy direction.
Derp.

[The Conservative]

Loneliness Epidemic Growing into Biggest Threat to Public Health

Loneliness and social isolation could be a greater public health hazard than obesity, and their impact will continue to grow, according to research presented at the 125th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need — crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment,” said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University.

“Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

Approximately 42.6 million adults over age 45 in the United States are estimated to be suffering from chronic loneliness, according to AARP’s Loneliness Study.

In addition, the most recent U.S. census data shows more than a quarter of the population lives alone, more than half of the population is unmarried and, since the previous census, marriage rates and the number of children per household have declined. . . .

https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/08/0 ... 24226.html

Hmmmm . . . you know what could solve this? Complete reliance on government handouts to guarantee citizens that they will never have to interact with anyone else to meet their survival needs (aka UBI). Yep. Nothing like being utterly dependent, utterly alone, and utterly useless to your society to really get a civilization kick-started in a healthy direction.
Derp.

The worst thing that ever happened to the US as a culture was the quick progression of technology.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Loneliness Epidemic Growing into Biggest Threat to Public Health

Loneliness and social isolation could be a greater public health hazard than obesity, and their impact will continue to grow, according to research presented at the 125th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need — crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment,” said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University.

“Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

Approximately 42.6 million adults over age 45 in the United States are estimated to be suffering from chronic loneliness, according to AARP’s Loneliness Study.

In addition, the most recent U.S. census data shows more than a quarter of the population lives alone, more than half of the population is unmarried and, since the previous census, marriage rates and the number of children per household have declined. . . .

https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/08/0 ... 24226.html

Hmmmm . . . you know what could solve this? Complete reliance on government handouts to guarantee citizens that they will never have to interact with anyone else to meet their survival needs (aka UBI). Yep. Nothing like being utterly dependent, utterly alone, and utterly useless to your society to really get a civilization kick-started in a healthy direction.
Derp.

So working for others is necessary to maintain a social life? What did all those yeoman farmers do before the Industrial Revolution? Just decay and wither in loneliness?

[The Conservative]

Loneliness Epidemic Growing into Biggest Threat to Public Health

Loneliness and social isolation could be a greater public health hazard than obesity, and their impact will continue to grow, according to research presented at the 125th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need — crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment,” said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University.

“Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

Approximately 42.6 million adults over age 45 in the United States are estimated to be suffering from chronic loneliness, according to AARP’s Loneliness Study.

In addition, the most recent U.S. census data shows more than a quarter of the population lives alone, more than half of the population is unmarried and, since the previous census, marriage rates and the number of children per household have declined. . . .

https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/08/0 ... 24226.html

Hmmmm . . . you know what could solve this? Complete reliance on government handouts to guarantee citizens that they will never have to interact with anyone else to meet their survival needs (aka UBI). Yep. Nothing like being utterly dependent, utterly alone, and utterly useless to your society to really get a civilization kick-started in a healthy direction.
Derp.

So working for others is necessary to maintain a social life? What did all those yeoman farmers do before the Industrial Revolution? Just decay and wither in loneliness?

You realized that the inn was the center of all things during that time when the fields were plowed the farmers were getting drunk... having a conversation with others... seriously, do some research.

[DBTrek]

So working for others is necessary to maintain a social life?

Straw man. Non-sequitur. Idiocy.

What did all those yeoman farmers do before the Industrial Revolution? Just decay and wither in loneliness?

Contributed to their communities through labor, maintained bonds with their communities through religious institutions, commerce, and symbiotic assistance.

Derp.

[Fife]

Here's a bump for those who are interested in Gibs Nation.

I'm re-posting this from some other UBI thread to present opposite views on the topic. Some of you might like to read, listen, and then think a little bit; and then pick a side of the argument and defend it.

*******

Here's your new mantra, UBI fans: Fuck work

Economists believe in full employment. Americans think that work builds character. But what if jobs aren’t working anymore?

Work means everything to us Americans. For centuries – since, say, 1650 – we’ve believed that it builds character (punctuality, initiative, honesty, self-discipline, and so forth). We’ve also believed that the market in labour, where we go to find work, has been relatively efficient in allocating opportunities and incomes. And we’ve believed that, even if it sucks, a job gives meaning, purpose and structure to our everyday lives – at any rate, we’re pretty sure that it gets us out of bed, pays the bills, makes us feel responsible, and keeps us away from daytime TV.

These beliefs are no longer plausible. In fact, they’ve become ridiculous, because there’s not enough work to go around, and what there is of it won’t pay the bills – unless of course you’ve landed a job as a drug dealer or a Wall Street banker, becoming a gangster either way.

Here's a mild rebuke of this utter nonsense: http://tomwoods.com/ep-934-time-for-peo ... out-a-job/

A Rutgers professor suggests it’s time we dropped our emphasis on jobs and work — many jobs are highly undesirable, and with automation the number of jobs is going to fall substantially anyway. And what’s so great about work? Think of the creativity that would emerge if we didn’t have to do them.

Peter Klein and I go through his article and respond.

[brewster]

A Rutgers professor suggests it’s time we dropped our emphasis on jobs and work — many jobs are highly undesirable, and with automation the number of jobs is going to fall substantially anyway. And what’s so great about work? Think of the creativity that would emerge if we didn’t have to do them.

While the issue of employment opportunities is real, when I think of the "creativity that would emerge" what comes to mind is Wall-E. Most people, myself included, are lazy as fuck.

[Smitty-48]

A Rutgers professor suggests it’s time we dropped our emphasis on jobs and work — many jobs are highly undesirable, and with automation the number of jobs is going to fall substantially anyway. And what’s so great about work? Think of the creativity that would emerge if we didn’t have to do them.

While the issue of employment opportunities is real, when I think of the "creativity that would emerge" what comes to mind is Wall-E. Most people, myself included, are lazy as fuck.

Laziness is no vice, Homo Sapiens Sapiens apex predator male, if nothing needs killing, then just eat and fuck, that's what you're on this planet for.