• iopq@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Because a system where people can avoid working would be bad for the economy. The government needs people to be able to pay a lot of taxes to afford things like the military. The whole system would collapse if some people could choose to have an easy life with a stable low income and not work

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      The economy exists to serve the people who live in it, not the other way around. If it’s challenging just to live, the economy has failed, and if it’s that way on purpose, it’s just slavery with extra steps.

      • iopq@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If your economy can’t provide for national defense, protecting the environment, etc. then it’s a failure

        Just look at aid to Ukraine

        https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2023/03/01/us-eclipses-all-other-nations-in-military-aid-to-ukraine/

        The United States has the largest economy, largest military and gives more to Ukraine in absolute terms. Even though certain nations like the Baltics give more as a percentage of their GDP, the US just has more to give and has a larger absolute help to Ukraine. This is because the US has a larger economy and tax base. It’s not just affecting the citizens of the US, but also the entire world.

        • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          If something is challenging, then by definition, a substantial number of people who attempt it will fail. If you want life itself to be challenging, you are by necessity advocating for many people who attempt it to fail despite their best efforts. I’m not sure what exactly failing at life means in this context–probably something like not having adequate food, shelter, or medical care. What you seem to be saying is that denying people the necessities of life is a good thing if scares the rest of the population into maximizing their economic output. Squeezing the most possible work out of people who have no choice but to work is literally the value proposition of slavery.

          The fact that you can use slave labor to do useful things, like defend Ukraine, cannot justify it. And I don’t even know what you’re getting at with “protecting the environment”, because the economic system that makes people live in terror of losing their jobs is the same one that’s actively making the planet uninhabitable.

          Did it ever even occur to you that motivating people through fear might not even be the most effective way to get useful labor out of them? Or that even if it was, life is about more than economic output?

          • iopq@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yes, but “failing” doesn’t mean you die. Failing means you rely on government programs.

            probably something like not having adequate food, shelter, or medical care

            My ex was a failure at life and she never had problems getting any of those things in California. You get a lot of benefits being under the poverty line