I think the notion is that Gaia and the government will supply all our needs and wants without work.
Minimum wage in Alberta going to $15 an hour.
- Thread starter JLM
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Ah, the mistletoe philosophy of the human forest.
That philosophy is, at its basic, existential dishonesty. The proponent must address the simple question his mum would ask. "What if, my son, everyone did that?"
That philosophy is, at its basic, existential dishonesty. The proponent must address the simple question his mum would ask. "What if, my son, everyone did that?"
western propaganda
true we need to end the existence of the mega wealthy. take money from the people who have excessive and unnecessary amounts of wealth who inherited it from their criminal forefathers and spread it among the common peoples.
And who the f**k is going to decide whose forefathers were criminal. Can a person be a criminal in a country where laws have yet to be enacted? You should have an answer to that, Bones!
I think the problem is too many people believe that the system is truly interconnected and that most of the wealthy "deserve" to be where they are and that most of the poor or lower middle class "deserve" to be where they are when the issues involved are far more complex than that black-and-white conclusion.
Not everyone at the higher end of the economic scale is being paid strictly commensurate to truly measurable variables be that what they bring to the table mentally or physically etc. A lot of incomes at the higher end of the spectrum are more arbitrary in their origin, meanwhile incomes at the lower end wind up the products of complex accounting calculations and exacting outcomes based on strict financial variables.
And thus the system spins off from there and continues on for generations until the day where people look at those earning lots of money as being "not lazy" (regardless of the fact that perhaps those "job creators" were born with the silver spoon firmly implanted) and those earning less as "not working hard enough" when in fact the opposite may very well be true.
There was a time that the stereotypes were true. That time has long past and now we live with the sickening inertia of a poorly designed system.
I prefer the term 'cubicle'.
It's 2015, we need to stop pretending the hunter/gatherer model still exists. There are entire factories operated by robots. If the computers went down tomorrow our world would grind to a halt.
Some people want financial wealth. Some people don't. There shouldn't be any problem with this - but currently our system punishes those who aren't interested in financial wealth.
But wealth comes in many forms and yet the system only cares about one aspect. Thus you wind up with mega-corporations that act in ways that hurt us all - other forms of wealth are given little value in our system - it's why the world is as screwed up as it is.
I'm always amazed at the excuses and amount of energy a lazy butt hole will expend to get out of actually working............
You could choose not to work in the cubicle. How would that work out for you? Would you not then be forced to take another job you don't want to do? Or let's say you don't want to trade your labor for money at all - would you not then be forced to live on the street? Does that sound like a good life to you?
The old world is calling and wants its obsolete thought patterns back.
What sort of model are you proposing and how do we get there from here ?
I'll be the first to admit that our system is far from perfect, but I'm at a loss for realistic solutions. Maybe Alberta going to a left wing government is a step in a new direction, but they too are going to be dealing with the day to day realities of keeping the lights on and the bills paid.
Interest in personal wealth is a personal choice. I can live without a forty footer at the yacht club but I recognize the necessity of keeping a roof over my head and providing for my children. Is it right to expect someone else to carry that load for me ?
~work, work, the dirty word, the dirtiest word I ever heard~ Hubb Capp and the Wheels.
Alberta elected a "left-wing" government in name only. I suppose "left-wing" is relative given the NDP in Alberta want to raise the corporate tax rate from 10% to 12% - not exactly radical - and not exactly left in my estimation. Leave it to Alberta to have a New Democrat Party that isn't much different than the PC's.
Interest in personal wealth may be a choice, but access often is not. There is a difference between keeping a roof over your head and food on the table and having an Olympic-sized heated swimming pool in your basement.
My point is not to expect someone else to "carry your load". I'm thinking we ought to build a system where everyone carried their own load, but where we allow everyone that opportunity to find the carrying easy through an entirely different method of reward.
What the particulars of that method should be would ideally be a national conversation and not one dominated by those with the deepest pockets. A good start would be the old axiom of punishing behavior that proves detrimental to society at large and rewarding behavior that does not.
We've built a system where accruing financial wealth has been THE GOAL, in spite of other forms of wealth - and thus the oceans are dying, the forests are clear-cut, the water is polluted and people pop anti-depressants like they're TicTacs.
It doesn't have to be that way, and yet I don't claim to have THE answer - but I recognize it's a conversation we ought to have and not be made to feel bad for wanting to have it.
A 'cubicle' comes in many forms - shackles are shackles. It's fine if you've always loved what you've done to survive, but don't pretend that this is most people's reality. There are millions of people who hate their job and if they could swing it financially would quit their job tomorrow - that is a problem.
Living hand to mouth is not a good life and no one "chooses" to do so - systematic violence is responsible and there's nothing romantic about it.
And cubicles aren't shackles, you nancy. You want to see a tough life? Try Syria.
I haven't. I don't think I love anything that much. And I don't care about other people. If they want to eat, they can work. If they want more, they can work harder or smarter. If they choose not to work and starve, I certainly won't miss them, and neither will the universe.
And there are millions in various parts of the world who would cheerfully move sh*t by hand without gloves 16 hours a day to live in what a white Canadian thinks of as dire poverty, and feel blessed.
Something I know better than you, having participated in some systematic violence.
If you want to sit on your butt and chortle about what an enlightened being you are, be my guest. Just don't expect me to feed you.
Is growing and raising your own food even though you are well paid not living hand to mouth too? Many would say it's too laborious and doesn't allow freedom to travel. To many this is an ideal goal and considered freedom. Others would rather work, buy their food and do as they please in their spare time and call it freedom.
What is your idea of freedom?
What is your idea of freedom?