this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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Capitalism is a system where you die if nobody needs you to do anything. Nobody needing your help is supposed to be a good thing.
That's incorrect, it's a system where you die if nobody wants you to do anything, which is a much lower threshold to clear given how many things can be delegated.
Like, you can make a living making art, which is not necessary but definitely something people want, if you're good at it.
We need art. Art is what gives life meaning.
No it isn't.
But it gives those who float through life without any practical purpose, purpose. You don't understand, man! It's just so deep.
Probably why the Taliban banned music.
heh, for me that would be bitches 😎
*proceeds to get none*
Lol no it's not, and I say it as an avid consumer of several different artforms.
Also, even then, you don't need a specific artist to make it for you, you can make art too.
The fact that art thrives in mercantilist and capitalist societies is a testament to the fact that want, and not need, drives the market.
May I remind you people spend thousands on furry art lol
That's my point. You don't need furry art to survive, nobody needs furry artists to make furry art, but people with surplus want them to, and that makes them thrive in a capitalist society.
Unpaid labour is still labour, and there are unfortunately billions of people living, and dying, in poverty who do an endless stream of labour for other people and their community, from caring for children, elderly, and disabled people, to cooking and cleaning, and providing a whole range of other physical, mental, and emotional support.
Them not being compensated for it is the feature of capitalism, not the need for labour itself, which leads nicely to
Actually, no, it isn't. Humans are interdependent and need each other to function as a society (even on the most a-social level - you're unlikely to be producing your own food, power, water supply, buildings, building materials, and so on, you need others to live, and at different points in life others will almost certainly need you in different ways). That's exactly why a hyper individualistic society like capitalism encourages leads to the kind of dystopia we have now.
https://theconversation.com/humans-arent-inherently-selfish-were-actually-hardwired-to-work-together-144145
I think you're defining "compensation" a bit too narrowly. Just because people are doing work of some kind in their community and not getting monetary wages for it doesn't mean they aren't being compensated. All human interaction is in some sense a transaction, it might just be more amorphous and unquantifiable than x many dollars. Friendships are trades. If a friendship isn't worthwhile for people, they generally end the friendship, even though most people wouldn't dream of assigning a dollar amount of value to a friendship.
And I think you're missing the fact that we're talking about surviving under capitalism, and that you can't buy food and shelter with friendship 🙄
Of course you can. Lol. Stay-at-home moms and dads are doing this exact thing. Older parents who live with their kids are, too. They're probably doing something like labor in addition to just being in some kind of human relationship, but they are effectively getting paid for friendship. It would be hard to put an exact dollar amount to this, and most people including myself wouldn't really want to write an invoice for every hug they give or minute of conversation they're partner to, but since all human interaction is effectively a transaction that is informally what's happening.
Tribal societies valued different things. If they were measuring just based on economical value and "productivity" then tribal societies would have a reputation of having no elders, because they would have all been forced out.
Thank God we are evolved, huh?
Apparently it's a bad thing, according to OP
Why is being useless a good thing, pls elaborate
Cause it means all the work is already being done and there's enough to go around and meet everyone's needs.
That's a terrible behavior to enable, that's like exactly the opposite of what we want
No, we want everyone to have enough, and to be able to take it easy when the work is done. We don't want people forced to work when it isn't helpful.
Work is always helpful, that's why it exists
Work isn't always helpful. If my partner got out of bed to clean the dishes or vacuum the floor at 3AM I'd be very cranky. Sometimes work is bad.
...bro it's cause you said 3am in this example, think this through.
You said work is always helpful. What do you think always means?
idk if you're trolling or not, but if you think doing the dishes or vacuuming is not helpful, or is bad, then I'm scared to see your living space.
I can't work due to a disability, am I useless?
yes