01-27-2019, 12:49 PM
HotPE, thanks for that Mark Twain excerpt. I had no idea that Hawaii invented "The Purge"!
While I generally support some social welfare programs (at least until we have enough free energy and automation to reach a "post-scarcity" world, or even just a real economy in Hawaii) it is interesting to think about how it acts as a perverse incentive:
- You can move away from your family support system and still be provided housing and food. This could be good (escaping a bad home situation) or bad (growing up without role models, economic and food support, reducing available housing)
- You don't have to rely on a church to feed or house you (also good if you're atheist/agnostic like me, but maybe bad for people that need the structure of religion in their lives)
- You can do nothing with your life and still get by. (Very few people have no potential. Lives wasted. Work undone. Bad examples set. Grossly unfair to the working, which demoralizes them.)
- You can be a complete asshole and still get by. (This one is the most insidious. Some people need an incentive to behave socially, and consequences for bad behavior. Without the give and take and social feedback of relationships, people become antisocial, shameless, or even crazy.)
While I generally support some social welfare programs (at least until we have enough free energy and automation to reach a "post-scarcity" world, or even just a real economy in Hawaii) it is interesting to think about how it acts as a perverse incentive:
- You can move away from your family support system and still be provided housing and food. This could be good (escaping a bad home situation) or bad (growing up without role models, economic and food support, reducing available housing)
- You don't have to rely on a church to feed or house you (also good if you're atheist/agnostic like me, but maybe bad for people that need the structure of religion in their lives)
- You can do nothing with your life and still get by. (Very few people have no potential. Lives wasted. Work undone. Bad examples set. Grossly unfair to the working, which demoralizes them.)
- You can be a complete asshole and still get by. (This one is the most insidious. Some people need an incentive to behave socially, and consequences for bad behavior. Without the give and take and social feedback of relationships, people become antisocial, shameless, or even crazy.)