that’s just it, they don’t have to, this is a choice.
The first reason is the bystander effect, the “somebody else’s problem” attitude. The default human outlook if there are multiple observers of some unpleasant thing is “surely someone else will solve it.” Most people think that, about the awful things going on around them.
Because I hate to complain without suggesting correction, the correction for this is simple; always assume everyone else watching is feckless and amoral. Then it is on you to act, if we get this attitude through the whole species perhaps there would be hope.
The second issue is that there is not sufficient incentive to behave better. Mind, I’m aware this is more your field than mine. What jobs earn great money? the two I can think of instantly are computer programmer and anything involving the petroleum industry. So those two industries soak the species for the brightest bulbs.
Meanwhile, yes by accident of distribution or relative comfort from time to time a competent person ends up in a service job, one focused on correcting society’s ills. A large proportion of those (90% in Oklahoma) burnout before they finish the first year. Since it takes at least three years to become effective, you can imagine how rarely that happens.
That’s me; I had high ideals, and I really thought I could make a difference. In the end it wasn’t worth it to me, the poverty, the cruelty I had to watch. It didn’t pay even remotely well given my training.
and I’m about as civic minded and interested in the well being of the species as anyone I’ve met. Granted, some of the others are better funded, and that dramatically increases the chances of success.
The cure? pay public servants better, and make their work environments less punishing. It seems that there is some assumption because of the emotional rewards, it need not be financially rewarding. I don’t think that makes economic sense.
From what I can see, it would be cheaper to feed, give medical care and house everyone. Granted you wouldn’t have people so defeated that they need the work or they’ll die, but that would be good for the economy as well.
Instead the largest beneficiaries of the current welfare system are low wage employers. This should outrage people, most of us pay our taxes, and where do those taxes go? To prop up uncompetitive businesses like Walmart. Walmart then writes off those “job creations” and takes a TAX BREAK FOR IT. WE’RE PAYING WALMART TO ROB US, and they’re only getting better at it.
heh, which brings me to my less practical but much more entertaining solutions; I say we create a lottery, everyone with more than 200 million dollars in assets gets on the list. Every morning, around 7 AM, we draw a name. 10 AM, they meet the guillotine, and at noon all of their money is distributed to the observing peasantry. How’s that for redistribution of wealth?
It isn’t communism, it’s pure French Revolution style justice, and that was so successful that no other European country afterwards dared to neglect their poor so completely. It’s true that deterrence does work, for the rich, because they can afford to know better than to cheat and rob those who bake their bread.
“The cure? pay public servants better, and make their work environments less punishing. It seems that there is some assumption because of the emotional rewards, it need not be financially rewarding. I don’t think that makes economic sense.”
–>Oh but it DOES make sense. The system is broken- on purpose- not by accident. You think the people at the top don’t know the solution? They do. They just don’t want to fix it bc the way things are now, is the best for THEM. So what if the peons have to suffer? The elites in power have never cared about the masses or the underclass. Things are the way they are in the US bc they want it to be that way. This is what benefits the titans of industry.
They extract our wealth and productivity, to the last drop, and we in turn, suffer and bleed.
well, and here’s where I do get a bit communist; I think the people who put the most work in are the most important people in the economy. So if the economy doesn’t serve them, it’s fundamentally broken. This relies on my college sophomore understanding of economics as the method of optimally distributing scarce resources.
I understand that the very rich don’t see the problem. Even most of the rich don’t see it. They, like many thieves before them, believe they can keep at it forever and never get caught. Essentially, their perception is broken because it all revolves around justifying their actions which are harmful. They can’t have a clear understanding of who’s getting hurt and why, it would cause them to either change behavior or become blatantly insane, that is detached from the world as it is.
But it is a historical fact, based on three thousand years of written history; the working people WILL get sick of it, they will stand up against it. It’s not an if, it’s a when. The plutocrats would love the working people to think they’ve won, but they only spend so much time and energy communicating that because they are as aware as anyone else what will happen once society finds out how expendable they are.
the thing is, the rich ARE causing the problem. they are the ones that PURPOSELY broke the system. They are the ones that designed the systems we have today. Nothing is “broken”- this is the way they want it to be. WE think it’s “broken” bc it doesn’t serve us, the mass populace. But they designed it to be this way, to serve THEM.
You seem to think the rich don’t know what’s going on. The rich aren’t stupid. They know exactly what they’re doing. The robber barons know they are robbing us blind, and will continue to do so until they’ve squeezed every last drop out of us.
That’s the matrix we are in- everyone believes the system is “broken.” It isn’t. The system isn’t broken- it is working perfectly the way it was designed.
Do you know how depressing it is to know the truth of what’s going on? Those that stick their head in the sand, either accidentally ignorant or willfully ignorant, are the happiest mf’ers in the world. Wouldn’t it be nice to be blissfully ignorant? Sigh…
4 comments
that’s just it, they don’t have to, this is a choice.
The first reason is the bystander effect, the “somebody else’s problem” attitude. The default human outlook if there are multiple observers of some unpleasant thing is “surely someone else will solve it.” Most people think that, about the awful things going on around them.
Because I hate to complain without suggesting correction, the correction for this is simple; always assume everyone else watching is feckless and amoral. Then it is on you to act, if we get this attitude through the whole species perhaps there would be hope.
The second issue is that there is not sufficient incentive to behave better. Mind, I’m aware this is more your field than mine. What jobs earn great money? the two I can think of instantly are computer programmer and anything involving the petroleum industry. So those two industries soak the species for the brightest bulbs.
Meanwhile, yes by accident of distribution or relative comfort from time to time a competent person ends up in a service job, one focused on correcting society’s ills. A large proportion of those (90% in Oklahoma) burnout before they finish the first year. Since it takes at least three years to become effective, you can imagine how rarely that happens.
That’s me; I had high ideals, and I really thought I could make a difference. In the end it wasn’t worth it to me, the poverty, the cruelty I had to watch. It didn’t pay even remotely well given my training.
and I’m about as civic minded and interested in the well being of the species as anyone I’ve met. Granted, some of the others are better funded, and that dramatically increases the chances of success.
The cure? pay public servants better, and make their work environments less punishing. It seems that there is some assumption because of the emotional rewards, it need not be financially rewarding. I don’t think that makes economic sense.
From what I can see, it would be cheaper to feed, give medical care and house everyone. Granted you wouldn’t have people so defeated that they need the work or they’ll die, but that would be good for the economy as well.
Instead the largest beneficiaries of the current welfare system are low wage employers. This should outrage people, most of us pay our taxes, and where do those taxes go? To prop up uncompetitive businesses like Walmart. Walmart then writes off those “job creations” and takes a TAX BREAK FOR IT. WE’RE PAYING WALMART TO ROB US, and they’re only getting better at it.
heh, which brings me to my less practical but much more entertaining solutions; I say we create a lottery, everyone with more than 200 million dollars in assets gets on the list. Every morning, around 7 AM, we draw a name. 10 AM, they meet the guillotine, and at noon all of their money is distributed to the observing peasantry. How’s that for redistribution of wealth?
It isn’t communism, it’s pure French Revolution style justice, and that was so successful that no other European country afterwards dared to neglect their poor so completely. It’s true that deterrence does work, for the rich, because they can afford to know better than to cheat and rob those who bake their bread.
“The cure? pay public servants better, and make their work environments less punishing. It seems that there is some assumption because of the emotional rewards, it need not be financially rewarding. I don’t think that makes economic sense.”
–>Oh but it DOES make sense. The system is broken- on purpose- not by accident. You think the people at the top don’t know the solution? They do. They just don’t want to fix it bc the way things are now, is the best for THEM. So what if the peons have to suffer? The elites in power have never cared about the masses or the underclass. Things are the way they are in the US bc they want it to be that way. This is what benefits the titans of industry.
They extract our wealth and productivity, to the last drop, and we in turn, suffer and bleed.
well, and here’s where I do get a bit communist; I think the people who put the most work in are the most important people in the economy. So if the economy doesn’t serve them, it’s fundamentally broken. This relies on my college sophomore understanding of economics as the method of optimally distributing scarce resources.
I understand that the very rich don’t see the problem. Even most of the rich don’t see it. They, like many thieves before them, believe they can keep at it forever and never get caught. Essentially, their perception is broken because it all revolves around justifying their actions which are harmful. They can’t have a clear understanding of who’s getting hurt and why, it would cause them to either change behavior or become blatantly insane, that is detached from the world as it is.
But it is a historical fact, based on three thousand years of written history; the working people WILL get sick of it, they will stand up against it. It’s not an if, it’s a when. The plutocrats would love the working people to think they’ve won, but they only spend so much time and energy communicating that because they are as aware as anyone else what will happen once society finds out how expendable they are.
the thing is, the rich ARE causing the problem. they are the ones that PURPOSELY broke the system. They are the ones that designed the systems we have today. Nothing is “broken”- this is the way they want it to be. WE think it’s “broken” bc it doesn’t serve us, the mass populace. But they designed it to be this way, to serve THEM.
You seem to think the rich don’t know what’s going on. The rich aren’t stupid. They know exactly what they’re doing. The robber barons know they are robbing us blind, and will continue to do so until they’ve squeezed every last drop out of us.
That’s the matrix we are in- everyone believes the system is “broken.” It isn’t. The system isn’t broken- it is working perfectly the way it was designed.
Do you know how depressing it is to know the truth of what’s going on? Those that stick their head in the sand, either accidentally ignorant or willfully ignorant, are the happiest mf’ers in the world. Wouldn’t it be nice to be blissfully ignorant? Sigh…