But in a society that advocates the hustle, I gotta get mine, right? /s
Doesn't a situation like this ask for social or government intervention?
This was the critical realization that took me from poverty to the middle class. Smile, pretend to be a bit naïve, extract what you need from the company (résumé fodder, etc) and move on.
I think about this every time someone advocates laissez faire (aka Freedom Markets™, corporatism).
Every game needs referees, a ruling body.
https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
I would argue that there is a non-arbitrary point below which someone cannot meet the items that produce a stable society. Things like being able to raise a family, save for retirement, pay for healthcare etc. When those things are absent people become more reliant on a government/society has to fill in the gaps. When people live paycheck-to-paycheck, depending on government subsidies, it certainly can affect social stability.
I don't think you're wrong or anything - as individuals they're obviously relying on those subsidies, it's just the perspective is weird. These people are clearly adding value to society (of the monetary kind, I don't want to get sidetracked by the moral aspect here) - they're just not in a position to claim it for themselves. Being unable to make long term plans is destabilizing: yep! The fact that the government happens to "pay" you, largely from your own tax bill: why is that destabilizing? That must be due to stigma or something, because there doesn't seem to be any underlying mechanic that makes sense.
Am I missing something?
This branch of the comments is literally about software engineer pay. See four levels up: "If Facebook could get away with paying engineers $30K/year, no benefits, believe me, they would."
To which you replied, "It's potentially shortsighted to have that sort of myopic utility maximizing mindset…"
> I would argue that there is a non-arbitrary point below which someone cannot meet the items that produce a stable society. Things like being able to raise a family, save for retirement, pay for healthcare etc. When those things are absent people become more reliant on a government/society has to fill in the gaps.
I agree with this. But shouldn't we then be advocating for a government/society capable of filling in the gaps? Expecting individual citizens or corporations to do this out of benevolence seems like a poor strategy.
