For reals, yo: I believe that people should have the opportunity to be wealthy.
Maybe my definition of "wealthy" is different from your own.
I think a person that never has to worry about paying for food; for shelter; for parking;, should not have the option to speak on things they don’t understand. You’re wealthy.
I know it’s hard to believe, but having gadgets and gizmos in a household that can’t afford heat or nutritional food and sustainable cleaning supplies is not comfortable or nice. Living paycheck to paycheck is not stress-free.
If you can live every day of your life without having to worry that you or members of your family or friend-circle can or will end up homeless, then you are wealthy. You will likely live a longer lifespan because you’re not being stressed out by needless worry.
"Needless worry?" Needless worry.
In a working society, every citizen would receive a living amount of money and the work they did would be bonus.
I know it doesn’t sound like it would work, but I think it would.
In a working society.
We are at a stage right now where money is being hoarded by a small amount of people that seem to think the game Monopoly is how society should work. Like, "Look at me! I have all the money and all the hotels and all the resources and now you’ve stepped on the wrong square! Pay me money!" can in any way work in real life. It’s such a simplistic view.
I guess I think the economy is a beautiful thing. (Smooth, dappled slug-like skin, but not mucousy. Just dry patterned skin that isn’t too slimy or too dry; a perfect bumpy surface, like the memory of a childhood playground. As long as it keeps moving, it’s a supple beauty. But when it’s held too tightly or roughly handled, it can flail or peel its skin, becoming dry and flaky. It’s a beauty that can only ever be brushed against. Not trapped or hindered in its pursuit of its own nature.)
I don’t understand a whole lot about the economy. I would never claim any kind of expertise.
But as an outside observer, I can’t help thinking that a working economy must be like the unicorn from "Legend."
Depending on your level of moral decay, the way you handle the economy results in ever worsening results for the world around you.
I mean, I want to think that there are good people in the world.
It’s comforting to know there are good people in the world.
And I want to believe that if given a choice, every person would choose to be good.
Its why I’m somehow always so shocked when I hear a story about a boss doing something terrible to their employees. When I hear about a politician running on a "I care about the people!" platform turning out to be a pedophile, a grave robbing freak, or a big game hunter.
But then again…
I don’t know why, but of late, seeing an actual competent and good boss doing their job in a fair to everyone way has been shocking to me. (It was a manga, but the boss was completely and totally fair in his treatment of everyone involved in the situation. Even gives the main character a fair punishment, and after they discuss things the main character accepts that the punishment they’d received was a fair thing. Nobody got mad. They continued going to work and living their lives.)
How long has it been since I’ve watched a movie or TV show where the person in charge doesn’t abuse their position.
We’ve normalized people being bad to each other at work. Of inappropriate interoffice interactions,:
- where the boss makes disparaging comments toward an employee, resulting in other employees treating the person badly
- where the boss is in love with the employee, showing their love by giving the employee an unearned promotion, peacocking around other employees who then treat the person differently, and/or having sexual feelings at work
- where employees scheme together to steal from the employer, whether by actually taking money or doing malicious things aimed toward customers
Like, you’re not a slave dude. You can quit. There is hopefully some kind of clause in your contract where you can peacefully separate from your employment company. Where you still receive the unemployment money but don’t do something completely bonkers.
Any creature would struggle if caught in a trap.
Forcing someone to remain working at your company via bonds of money is a basic understanding of the economy. It brings in money, but leads to dissatisfied employees. And those that are only working for you because they either want to be fired or abused by you in a cashable way so they can quit are not the best employees. And depending on their level of vexation, they could spread murmurs amongst other employees or spit in someone’s hamburger.
Having a business that has an internal protocol to be able to Terminate With Cause any employee that wants to quit but refuses to quit so as to receive the unemployment payout. So the only choice the employee has is to quit and give up a possibly necessary chunk of money. Which means making plans to quit while squirreling away money to use when they are finally able to quit.
Why hold onto employees that no longer want to work at your company? Pay them their unemployment fund and let them walk away. They might even spread word that you were a fair employer to them.
"But it’s $10,000/$50,000/$100,000"–who cares? You have an employee that no longer wants to work at your company. Give them an amicable split and let them go.
"But my business is unable to draw up that money and pay it out" and blah blah. If the employment contract stipulates that the payout amount changes depending on how long the employee works there… Well, obviously you’d be setting aside money every day your employee worked for you. That would be part of the public funds of your company, the ones that you should be able to explain to people without side-eyed looks and shady explanations.
And even if those public funds are only collecting interest at the bank… You would likely end up saving more money than the employee termination amount turns out to be. And if you’ve got fifty employees, even if one employee has a monstrous payout amount… the public fund would be able to pay it while still maintaining payout amounts for every other employee.
In a working society, every citizen would have a place to live. Basic amenities that would be provided without sneering looks or rude social commentary. Paid for out of tax money. Taxes based on income.
It seems like it wouldn’t work.
"If everyone has everything they need just handed to them… why would they want to work?" Because people want beautiful clothes. Fun electronics. Delicious food professionally cooked by someone else. They want recreational substances and the dream of being able to go on a great vacation. They want to give memorable presents to the children in their family.
"Realtors would go out of business!" If a basic housing amount chit is presented along with more money, people could buy houses and apartments to live in. So realtors would still be selling property. And they could also do the job of collecting rent–like, if they’re quality realtors, they would have the kind of reputation where the customer doesn’t have to worry that the property owner will lie and say they never received the rent check. (For reals, yo: There are some important payments that deserve a paper record. You should be able to call the bank and track where the money went and when.)
"Grocery stores would run out of money!" Why? If the government reimbursed them for the Bonus Bucks, they would get paid. And they would likely have to adhere to certain standards of pricing and food quality. (Like, there’s a four pack of ramen that the local mid-level grocery store charges $13.99 for it… when the regular store sells it for $6.)
I hate dented cans. Even if I can tell myself "You examined the can, it’s a ‘safe dent.’" I still find it hard to eat it. I stress myself out worrying about food poisoning because I can’t afford to call an ambulance. And what if I call a taxi to take me? If it’s nothing that needs more than over-the-counter medical treatment… that’s money wasted on a car ride I didn’t need to take. PLUS the time wasted in the ER waiting to be seen.
I consider the cost of the can and the imagined amount of medical fees, and there have been times when I’ve made the hard decision to throw away what might have been poisonous food.
I wouldn’t waste food if I had the assurance that all medical-related expenses would be covered. Not a single money-related stressor.
But I don’t have that. So I tend to avoid garbage food even if there’s nothing else I want to eat. Because there’s no amount of food ingredients I’m willing to die for. But I’m not currently to the point of starving. So I don’t know what I’d be willing to eat if there was no other choice.
Like, all those people that are like "I’d be willing to eat a person to survive" might have second thoughts if the choice was eating a plate of wriggling maggots.
We all want to imagine that we’re tough enough to handle any situation we find ourselves in. But the truth is that you never know how strong you are until something unexpected happens.
And when there are wealthy people stepping on the heads of the poor to be able to claim "Look at me! I collected all the fungible tokens that represent food, clothing, and personal safety! I’m a winner!" While not having the self-awareness to realize that eventually the people will respond in a negative, likely head-choppy way.
Monopoly is a fantasy world game. A shallow glimpse at the first steps of predatory capitalism without exploring any further into the subject. There’s only the "I’ve taken all the resources. I win!" stage of predatory capitalism, not the "pushback of the masses" stage that swiftly follows.
Once people are no longer able to afford watching videos or eating Top Ramen, the violence is an inevitable consequence.