Re:The most precious resource is agency
by jkhdigital on Wednesday June 30, 2021 @10:14PM
(#27695662)
Economics is the new god, the god of materialism. At some point in the 20th century we decided that material prosperity is really all you need for a happy and healthy society. Doesn’t seem to be working out so well…
[ Parent
| on HN ]
I never get what motivates people to blame the system here.
If you have 150k in the bank you could go to a remote place in the US, take a lowkey job where you work 25 hours a week, and live perfectly fine. No one is stopping you.
The only reason you don't do this is because you like nice things, nice food cooked for you, nice immenities, and want your kids to have material prosperity.
You're making some very large assumptions about the reader's circumstances and motivations:
>you have 150k in the bank
>no one is stopping you
>the only reason you don't...
Overall I think your response is not convincing. The problems of materialism are systemic because materialism is baked into the culture and institutions of the US. People are thus motivated to blame the system.
I just cut out avocado toast and now I'm well on my way to 150k!
How much is an avocado in the US?
About $0.60 for a small one, up to $1.20 for a large one.
Parent is referencing this joke: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/avocado-toast
Re:The most precious resource is agency
by Sophistifunk on Thursday July 01, 2021 @06:49PM
(#27705862)
Do you have any idea how few people have $150k in the bank?
Re:The most precious resource is agency
by paulryanrogers on Wednesday June 30, 2021 @11:41PM
(#27696056)
By what measure? (Not sure I disagree just curious)
Re:The most precious resource is agency
by jkhdigital on Wednesday June 30, 2021 @11:55PM
(#27696127)
It's a good and fair question, and of course I'm going to dodge it because I wasn't prepared to defend my statement. Probably should have ended with a rhetorical question instead.
If I may attempt to answer it: Because it works for politicians, and the line of people behind the politicians with their left hands offering $X and their right hands demanding special treatment worth 100x$X.