>>Spend your stimulus check on food or car maintenance, not on a movie.<<
Oh, it gets worse. A restaurant or movie, I'm pretty much guaranteed to get (and enjoy) the service I am paying for at the time - but I've heard advice suggesting people make down payments for things like wedding venues. Who knows when or if there can be a wedding at that venue, in the reserved timeframe? What is the refund policy? What happens if the company folds?
>>Interdependence is a natural and necessary part of a healthy society.<<
I don't mind interdependence; but I do mind being voluntold, being taken advantage of, and hypocrisy.
>>Frex, medical expenses should be paid by the client,...<<
A lot of gov healthcare debates I've had with aquaintences have stonewalled a bit as soon as I mention that "Some people need Gov healthcare - how do you expect someone to pay half a million+ a year for medical expenses, on an average salary?" (I think they see such occurrences as exceptional exceptions, much like intelligent women in 1850. Humph!)
>>And that's an inherent flaw of capitalism: it promotes greed. <<
Pointing out that capitalism leads to slavery and robber barons wasn't working, so I finally told a conservative relative he owed me $1 every time he called me a communist.
Hopefully our discussions will have a little more variety now, and if not, at least I'll get a few laughs!
>>No system is perfect, but that one sure quashed unequal wealth distribution.<<
Well then, I'd wonder what the flaw of a gift economy is!
BTW, I realized the other day that emotional labor is performed as a gift economy in this country - the nicest people are the ones who give their time/money/expertise/blood...and the grouchy person who sits inside and complains is so sad and lonely...
Of course, no one notices/tracks this, as it is largely invisible work done by largely invisible people...
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dancing_serpent
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2021-01-31 02:49 am (UTC)Define essential.
>>Spend your stimulus check on food or car maintenance, not on a movie.<<
Oh, it gets worse. A restaurant or movie, I'm pretty much guaranteed to get (and enjoy) the service I am paying for at the time - but I've heard advice suggesting people make down payments for things like wedding venues. Who knows when or if there can be a wedding at that venue, in the reserved timeframe? What is the refund policy? What happens if the company folds?
>>Interdependence is a natural and necessary part of a healthy society.<<
I don't mind interdependence; but I do mind being voluntold, being taken advantage of, and hypocrisy.
>>Frex, medical expenses should be paid by the client,...<<
A lot of gov healthcare debates I've had with aquaintences have stonewalled a bit as soon as I mention that "Some people need Gov healthcare - how do you expect someone to pay half a million+ a year for medical expenses, on an average salary?" (I think they see such occurrences as exceptional exceptions, much like intelligent women in 1850. Humph!)
>>And that's an inherent flaw of capitalism: it promotes greed. <<
Pointing out that capitalism leads to slavery and robber barons wasn't working, so I finally told a conservative relative he owed me $1 every time he called me a communist.
Hopefully our discussions will have a little more variety now, and if not, at least I'll get a few laughs!
>>No system is perfect, but that one sure quashed unequal wealth distribution.<<
Well then, I'd wonder what the flaw of a gift economy is!
BTW, I realized the other day that emotional labor is performed as a gift economy in this country - the nicest people are the ones who give their time/money/expertise/blood...and the grouchy person who sits inside and complains is so sad and lonely...
Of course, no one notices/tracks this, as it is largely invisible work done by largely invisible people...