Politics

[Crazed_Insanity]

It takes a village, so to speak, and we don't have one.

Yep. I'm beginning to think that's probably where it all went wrong. We don't really know our neighboring villagers anymore. Heck, we don't even really know some of our friends and family anymore thanks to social media or whatever busy lifestyles. With regard to future generations. How much time do you actually spend with them? Who is raising influencing your children? If you're not having any children, that certainly won't bode well for any village's future...

My solution? Spend more quality time with those around you. Make love and have children. At least 1... or 2? Don't forget to spend quality time with them too! And ask not what your village can do for you, but ask what you can do for your village!

Actually, that ain't my solution. God has long taught us to love our neighbors and to be fruitful and multiply! But what does God know anyways...

[MR2 Fan]

Actually, that ain't my solution. God has long taught us to love our neighbors and to be fruitful and multiply! But what does God know anyways...

That he only knows how to multiply people and divide them?

[Yw-slayer]

Sick burn.

[MR2 Fan]

Has anyone heard about the relatively new idea from some of tech's biggest names regarding a minimum living wage (or something, I can't remember the exact term).

Basically the idea that with automation taking jobs away, that people will need a basic level of income to survive. I know this goes against lots of right wing conservatives that immediately equate this to communism and everyone should something-bootstraps-something, blah blah.

Beyond that, I believe it is an interesting discussion and ties into what I mentioned previously....we're going to see a radical shift in how everything is done in the next 1-2 decades. Will we be ready for it is the question.

Awareness is most important...if we can predict how soon and when these changes may take place (ahem, like Amazon buying Whole Foods, possibly taking over a grocery market and using less retail cashiers, etc. in the process), then we can better figure out things.

Honestly, I get the sense that most of our current government really has no clue about real financial and market economics and just does knee jerk reactions to whatever people like Grover Norquist tell them.

Anyway, it seems like Google and Amazon are slowly taking over the world.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Minimum living wage can only be implemented when our society learned to have some personal responsibility.

Like i said before, if most villagers are only looking for what the village can give them, then it can't be sustainable. Only when most villagers are actively looking for something to do for the village, only then can this minimum living wage concept work out.

[FaultyMario]

You mean Universal Income.

Not IT's big shot's idea.

[thesameguy]

I have read a bit about the future automation, but I don't think anyone has a really concise idea about what it will entail. World history is punctuated by the replacement of man by machine - we've got the cotton gin or the Northrop loom or robotic car factories and at each step along the way people have more or less retained employment - maybe by designing new machines, fixing new machines, or doing some aspect of work that machines can't do. I'm not 100% convinced that whatever the next phase looks like will really displace that many people. To some degree, it's like the discussion that the switch to green energy kills jobs... well, it does, it kills coal mining jobs but creates wind turbine building jobs. I'm not suggesting the rollout of automation will always leave room for people, only that there may not need to fretting right now.

What I like about the idea of a guaranteed income is that it has the potential to solve some other concerns. If we just ensure everyone has $1000/mo to live on, we might have the opportunity to scale back other social services - foot stamps, Medicare, subsidized housing ("Section 8" in California), CPS, etc. I read one analysis that suggested the financial burden of a guaranteed income would be far less than it initially seems because implementing could wipe out an enormous area of bureaucratic overlap and waste. Just the idea of taking money out of the government and putting it to work for people makes me giddy inside.

[MR2 Fan]

I have read a bit about the future automation, but I don't think anyone has a really concise idea about what it will entail. World history is punctuated by the replacement of man by machine - we've got the cotton gin or the Northrop loom or robotic car factories and at each step along the way people have more or less retained employment - maybe by designing new machines, fixing new machines, or doing some aspect of work that machines can't do. I'm not 100% convinced that whatever the next phase looks like will really displace that many people. To some degree, it's like the discussion that the switch to green energy kills jobs... well, it does, it kills coal mining jobs but creates wind turbine building jobs. I'm not suggesting the rollout of automation will always leave room for people, only that there may not need to fretting right now.

What I like about the idea of a guaranteed income is that it has the potential to solve some other concerns. If we just ensure everyone has $1000/mo to live on, we might have the opportunity to scale back other social services - foot stamps, Medicare, subsidized housing ("Section 8" in California), CPS, etc. I read one analysis that suggested the financial burden of a guaranteed income would be far less than it initially seems because implementing could wipe out an enormous area of bureaucratic overlap and waste. Just the idea of taking money out of the government and putting it to work for people makes me giddy inside.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Just the idea of taking money out of the government and putting it to work for people makes me giddy inside.

That's the million dollar question. If people have this sense of security and able to divert attention to focus on productive endeavors, the money can be a great investment! However, given our discussions earlier..., do you guys really believe people can have that much personal responsibility given the free money? Will that free money really suddenly cure people's materialistic urges?

[thesameguy]

That's the million dollar question. If people have this sense of security and able to divert attention to focus on productive endeavors, the money can be a great investment! However, given our discussions earlier..., do you guys really believe people can have that much personal responsibility given the free money? Will that free money really suddenly cure people's materialistic urges?

Yeah, I don't know. I see people buying energy drinks with food stamps at a local gas station and it makes me a little uneasy. I'm sure a lot of people on government assistance got there because they aren't good at dealing with money... I'm not the person to construct a foolproof system, if one could even be devised, but obviously we can't scale out a system where every citizen requires direct government oversight to function. At some point, you have to incorporate trust in the people. What I do know is that having a Bureau of Food Assistance, a Bureau of House Assistance, a Bureau of Internet Assistance, a Bureau of Child Assistance, a Bureau of Medicine Assistance, and a Bureau of Old People Assistance, creates an enormous amount of redundancy, and that specializing in areas of citizens' lives will not provide the same results as a more holistic, comprehensive approach. Somewhere between credits that can only be spent at a government store and free reign is where we gotta be, I just don't know where. I have heard that since California revised its food assistance program to expand where it can be used and on what it can be used, it's been a better, more successful program. Maybe it's something to look at for a broader system of care.