Poverty is not a personal choice, but a reflection of society

Re:Poverty is not a personal choice, but a reflection of soc... by l_t on Saturday July 01, 2017 @12:03AM (#14675317)

I notice this as well. I think a lot of it comes down to modern society being so complex that most people are unwilling or unable to do anything "extra" like that, at least not regularly. Not only that, but companies and governments are so complex that they resort to bureaucracy as a way to attempt to make things predictable.

Every action people take is driven by such a complex web of incentives these days, that risk-aversion is often seen as the pragmatic option.

Having said that, I will say that I am often pleasantly surprised by how thoughtful and considerate people can be to each other in general. But I do think that risk-averse "fuck you" treatment is on the rise, especially when dealing with people at work being asked to make difficult decisions. Risk aversion is corporate policy.

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Re:Poverty is not a personal choice, but a reflection of soc... by mowenz on Saturday July 01, 2017 @05:33AM (#14676257)

Just a different perspective to answer this (and I am open to being wrong): competition b/w societies is decreasing. We live in an increasingly bureaucratic, interconnected, globalized world, and I think it is an undiscussed reason for this.

The incentives and disincentives to care for your neighbour or not, or to care for your group, decreased, and it will keep decreasing if this trend continues.

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