this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2024
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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So the fact that most adults read at a 6th grade level is not a problem in your world?

[–] viking@infosec.pub -5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's their problem. Literally.

Also, what kind of people do you surround yourself with? I don't know a single person with the reading skills of a sixth grader.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Ah, so if you're stupid enough you deserve to get swindled. Got it.

And if someone smarter than you swindled you I bet you'd be like "You got me! No harm, bro."

Also, it's a statistical truth 54% of Americans read below a sixth grade level, regardless of who I associate with.

The complexity of the world is spiraling upward at an exponential rate. A 6th grade reading level was just fine and normal when my grandfather was a young man. Today, if you’re struggling that much then you’re lucky if you can keep a roof over your head.

A lot of people now say this is proof that we need universal basic income, free education, health care, public housing for all. I live in Canada where we have some of these things. One of our biggest ongoing political fights is over the issue of how to pay for these things. Tons of people fight against pay raises for teachers and blame teachers for all our problems. Teachers are actually pretty well paid here in Canada, compared to the US.

The other issue is immigration. The more services you get provided by the government, the more of a strain you put on the immigration system because everyone wants to move to your country so they can take advantage of those benefits. On the other hand, the way the US used to be (prior to the 20th century), there were no real social benefits to speak of and so everyone who immigrated had to work and benefit the economy. The US had no restrictions on immigration back then.

The thing I fear most with what has been called The Great Decoupling and the rise of a basic income state is this: the resource curse. Some of the most regressive, brutal, backward countries in the world are also those with the largest decoupling between workers and wealth. Historically these have been resource exporters such as oil and gas and mineral countries.

It’s a tragic reality of life that if people are deemed unnecessary for the productive functioning of the economy then they will come to be seen as politically and socially unnecessary. Then these people are extremely vulnerable to domination by a brutal elite.

If our society goes that way and we end up with a two class system with a small number of vastly wealthy capital owners and a vast number of unproductive basic income recipients then I can’t see that situation remaining stable without some brutal repression.

[–] viking@infosec.pub -3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm not American. Neither are ~96% of the world population, so please don't extrapolate based on a flawed sample.

[–] blind3rdeye@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

Huh. Based on your screw-you, got-mine attitude, I did guess you were American. But I guess selfishness exists pretty much everywhere.