Re:Controlling your own wealth as a basic human right
by mattkrause on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @11:44AM
(#13482971)
Flipping your argument around a bit, you work from 10am to noon every day in order to have civilization.
Starting at 10, you put in about twenty minutes of work defending you, your family, and your possessions from other, less scrupulous folks (defense). Then you spend about forty five minutes putting a little bit aside for your future self (SS, Medicare). After that, another 15 minutes of work provides insurance against becoming catastrophically poor and sick (Medicaid). The rest of the time covers everything else: building infrastructure so you can move around, inspections so that you, your food and your medicine are safe (FDA, USDA, OSHA, EPA), regulations so that you can save and invest with confidence (SEC, CFPB), and the like. You maybe spend thirty seconds, maybe a minute on research (which forms the basis for new treatments that keep you alive, lays the groundwork for new products that delight you, and even helps you understand your place in the universe). At the stroke of noon, you spend an instant working on some things that perhaps you're not sure about (National Endowment for the Arts, NPR (maybe)), and then you're back to making money for yourself.
Starting at 10, you put in about twenty minutes of work defending you, your family, and your possessions from other, less scrupulous folks (defense). Then you spend about forty five minutes putting a little bit aside for your future self (SS, Medicare). After that, another 15 minutes of work provides insurance against becoming catastrophically poor and sick (Medicaid). The rest of the time covers everything else: building infrastructure so you can move around, inspections so that you, your food and your medicine are safe (FDA, USDA, OSHA, EPA), regulations so that you can save and invest with confidence (SEC, CFPB), and the like. You maybe spend thirty seconds, maybe a minute on research (which forms the basis for new treatments that keep you alive, lays the groundwork for new products that delight you, and even helps you understand your place in the universe). At the stroke of noon, you spend an instant working on some things that perhaps you're not sure about (National Endowment for the Arts, NPR (maybe)), and then you're back to making money for yourself.
I would argue this is a fantastic deal!