Bums: Living the low-stakes life

National Review ^ | February 26, 2017 | Kevin D. Williamson

[C19fan]

I have lost touch with my friend Mark, and, assuming he is alive, it will be some work to track him down, because he is periodically homeless or semi-homeless. My first impression was that his economic condition was mainly the result of his having been for many years a pretty good addict and a pretty poor motorcyclist, a combination that had predictable neurological consequences. I never knew Mark “before” — there is something in such men as Mark suggesting an irrevocably bifurcated life — but the better I got to know him, the more I came to believe that he probably had been much the same man, but functional, or at least functional enough.

[C19fan]

When it come to Star Trek the most ridiculous utopian idea from the series is society will become so productive that people will have free time to become great artists or other productive hobbies and endeavors. As this article shows, we have a society where one can work at a low paying jobs and be able to meet ones needs, with help from gov't, if one stays single. All the free time is spent sleeping and playing video games. The Star Trek NG episode about the holodeck addict is more accurate.

[Mr. Douglas]

The Star Trek NG episode about the holodeck addict is more accurate.

---

It’s amazing you brought that one up. It was the episode that convinced me the writers were hopeless utopians that had no understanding of human nature - and failed to learn the lesson of Miranda (Firefly plug).

That is, if the holodeck worked as advertised, virtually EVERYONE would be hooked on it. Not just the “weak”.

[Bryanw92]

>>That is, if the holodeck worked as advertised, virtually EVERYONE would be hooked on it. Not just the “weak”.

Back when TNG was in production, my gaming group came to that conclusion too. As the show got weaker and weaker, they turned to the holodeck as the plot of more shows and proved it out that even these strong-willed and purposeful people were spending way too much time in holodeck fantasies.

You know that back on earth where no one worked and there was no real threats, everyone had to be a holodeck addict.

[Mr. Douglas]

The movie “Surrogates” kinda touched on that.

[stylin19a]

ah, it now makes sense. FR is a holodeck

[DonaldC]

People young and old are beginning to set pretty low bars of success. I’m amazed at how many youtube videos glamorize living in a vehicle. It is one thing to have had success and decide at middle age or retirement to live in a class C motor home or something, I’d like to do that myself, but many of these folks are much younger.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Go away! I'm batin!!!

[marktwain]

“Extended adolescence does not represent something that has been gained, but something that has been lost. That’s more obvious in some men than in others, but the principle is universal.”

---

Yes, without the need to be productive, few will be.

[RegulatorCountry]

Give that there have been eight years of a very poor job market in most of the country, I’d imagine a lot of people have had to adjust their expectations to fit within their means, and sometimes those means are short lived to the point that being mobile is a very good thing. I’d imagine a lot of younger people can’t really afford to buy a house due to this in any market, let alone in those areas that have reentered bubble territory. Could be gun-shy due to the last real estate bust, too. Depreciation on a used motorhome or camper is very manageable since they’re relatively cheap to start with. Taking a 20% bath on a $200,000 house turns into a boat anchor while you pay it down, assuming your job(s) hold out.

[VanDeKoik]

That is why I liked the Ferengi more.

[C19fan]

You're overlooking something. Humans used to be a lot worse than Ferengi. Slavery, concentration camps, interstellar war. We have nothing in our past that approaches that level of barbarism. You see, we're nothing like you. We're better.

[VanDeKoik]

Then you whack them in the head with a copy of the Rules Of Acquisition!

[ctdonath2]

“When it come to Star Trek the most ridiculous utopian idea from the series is society will become so productive that people will have free time to become great artists or other productive hobbies and endeavors.”

That’s a major selling point, and point of doctrine, for those promoting “universal basic income”. They claim individual human potential is suppressed by the oppressive need to earn a minimal living, consuming their time & energy leaving them with insufficient to pursue more creative & productive pursuits. Underdiscussed: in my experience, most people who operate at a level needing UBI tend use such financial freedom (when provided via abundance of welfare) to lounge around watching TV or more sordid occupations; rare is the UBI-equivalent recipient who actually leverages the opportunity into economic productivity.

[ctdonath2]

with sufficient

[ctdonath2]

Succinct: “As our collective standard of living gets higher, the cost of individual failure gets lower.”

Indeed. When you can live comfortably (by world historical standards) on $10/day, and earning that takes just 1.5 hours of mundane (ex.: floor sweeping) labor, it’s pretty darned hard to really “fail”.

[pabianice]

"One day finds me in Rehab waiting my turn and feeling sorry for myself. It’s hard not to spend some time in self-pity though I usually can keep such feelings at bay. As I sit in my chair a gurney is wheeled into the room and parked behind me. I turn and observe a young guy lying on his back, bare-chested and wearing a “halo.” Halo is the name given to a full neck brace that locks to the head with metal screws through the skin to the skull and secures to the shoulders. It is definitely a serious gizmo and makes me queasy when I see one since about the only thing not broken in my accident was my spine. The guy wearing it lies motionless and because I can’t see his face don’t know if he is awake. When my therapist arrives to accompany me to the Crip Board, I ask about the young guy lying silently on the gurney. I learn that one night a week or so ago he drank a six pack and then thought it would be great fun to take his motorcycle out and see how fast he could go through the city streets. He ended his ride with some superficial cuts and bruises plus a fractured C2 vertebra the same injury actor Christopher Reeve suffered in his horse-riding accident. The guy with the halo is 20 years old and can now look forward to being paralyzed for life, baring any unforeseen medical breakthroughs. I suddenly feel not so bad..."

From "What I Saw After the Crash"

[Eisenhower Republican]

For some this is a voluntary thing. For others it isn’t. Our society decided it neither needed nor wanted most of its men 25 years ago. Women acting out in a fit of rage against their fathers and (ex?)husbands inadvertently missed and destroyed their sons instead.

With little in the way of capital or opportunity, what did everyone figure they were going to do? With no adult roles available to fill, and no rewards for trying to be productive, why would they bother? Not to mention the fact that the ones who do try to better themselves through education or retraining face a huge uphill battle thanks to ageism, excessive competition, and institutionalized discrimination.

[angryoldfatman]

That’s assault.

It’s going to cost you 5 bars of gold-pressed latinum to contract that out.

[RatRipper]

. . .that people will have free time to become great artists or other productive hobbies and endeavors.

Most reasonable folks find that gainful employment can be both productive AND fulfilling. I'll attribute the former thought to Marxists who hate America and all it represents.

I think Ecclesiastes eventually concludes, in paraphrased form, that one should work hard and walk humbly with our Lord . . . that is the best we could do.

[jjsheridan5]

As this article shows, we have a society where one can work at a low paying jobs and be able to meet ones needs, with help from gov't, if one stays single. All the free time is spent sleeping and playing video games.

Because, as we all know, the experiences of a handful of elements from the fringes of society are clearly representative of the 100s of millions of people not on the fringes of society.

The Star Trek NG episode about the holodeck addict is more accurate.

No, it wasn't. It was accurate of what would happen to a small segment of society, perhaps, but no more. In a world where free time is uncommon: people who tend to be unproductive will tend to be unproductive; people who tend to be productive will tend to be productive. In a world where free time is common: people who tend to be unproductive will tend to be unproductive; people who tend to be productive will tend to be productive.

You can't just look at the behavior of the lowest and most useless rungs on the ladder of life and extrapolate it to the public as a whole. Or, at least, you can't do so, and expect to draw meaningful conclusions.