throwaway234287

> what's to stop UBI recipients from buying shares of those companies to effect the same thing?

I guess they could, but even at best that would still only slightly mitigate the effects of the increasing inequality. Since stocks are a way of making money with money [1], what you could buy with UBI (or, more realistically, the much much smaller slice that's left after living expenses [2]) is obviously much less than what someone with either more to invest or directly benefiting from the company is getting.

[1] That is, for the purposes of this argument. Sure they're also a way of funding new endeavors etc.

[2] And that slice of dispensable income is also, generally speaking, much smaller for those with low income than those with high income, both absolutely and relatively.

> It really comes down to how industrious and conscientious you are rather then how smart and happy you are.

I get it that industriousness and conscientiousness are important, but I disagree that "it" (whatever "it" is) comes down to those rather than being happy.

(I also disagree that being smart or working smart is less important, although it's true that just being smart without any of the former two doesn't allow one to accomplish much. Of course if you value the idea of being busy and doing a lot as an end in itself, that's another story.)

If your economical circumstances, the surrounding society or other realities dictate that you have to be particularly industrious in order to survive and to meet your basic needs, wants and goals, it makes sense to have that as your central value. But if you're already getting what you need, why on Earth would industriousness rule over happiness or satisfaction?

I guess this is pretty much a matter of values, and if you get that satisfaction from being and feeling industrious, that kind of answers the question. But if you don't, it doesn't make much sense -- in that case the former is just a means to the end.

> Most people don’t have this luxury, work very long hours in completely shitty jobs (think cleaning toilets) and never burn out and lead happy life.

Well, you can kind of toil away in a non-thinking job, and if it suits your personality, that's fine. It can still be exhausting particularly if you need to do it in a hurry, but I wouldn't expect you to burn out if you can keep doing pretty much the same thing every day and it suits you.

However, I think a lot of people on HN are the kinds of people who get satisfaction from more than just getting their basic job done, and the ability to be creative and to maintain the kinds of cognitive abilities required e.g. for tech jobs does actually require a balance, at least for most people.

But yeah, it's a matter of values in a sense I guess. Doing what fits your values gives satisfaction.

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that the probability or rate (or expected time) of metastasizing varies a lot depending on the type of the tumor. (I looked into this a bit when I was diagnosed; it was more or less likely to metastasize within a somewhat short time, depending on the exact type of the tumor.)

I'm sure the immunosuppressants needed after a transplant would increase the risk in any case.