Universal Basic Income or Class Warfare

The Batlord · 12-19-2018, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [MERIT]

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to destitute myself so that some stranger can get a free bowl of porridge. If I am barely making ends meet and I donate all of my money to charity, now I'm poor too.

Yeah this is the point. This is what basically all people do and it's not justifiable. I mean I just spent $16 on a hundred each of plastic bags and cardboard backs for a ****load of comics that have been sitting in a pile unread for like two years. How is that okay when somebody is currently hungry?

Quote:

If I can help someone personally, I will. But giving to a charity where 95% of the donations fund a CEO's retirement account is not going to help anything in the long run.

Don't pretend like that's what's stopping you. Not wanting to give away your money is what's stopping you.

~~[MERIT]~~ · 12-19-2018, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dharma & Greg

Don't pretend like that's what's stopping you. Not wanting to give away your money is what's stopping you.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep what you have earned.

There is a big difference between letting someone starve to death right next to you when you have food to spare and people starving thousands of miles away that you will never meet [I know that people can argue that the end result is the same]. I know it's fucked up, but it's reality. Unless you can experience it and be around it, it doesn't affect you as much. That's just part of the human condition. If problems where in our face 24/7, they would get solved. But we keep them out of sight and out of mind.

~~MicShazam~~ · 12-19-2018, 02:00 PM

I could realistically cover all of my basics while giving away several thousand Danish crowns every month, but I'm not doing it. Maybe some of that, but not even close to 10%, even if I signed up for a monthly donation.

I'm just doing what everyone else is doing, but that's really kind of a weak excuse.

So what's stopping me? Hmmm... selfishness, I think.

I've got an internet connection right here. Could search, find a charity, donate. Boom. Done. But I'm not. Just kinda hard to deny that there is something I could do, that would make a difference to less fortunate people, that I'm not doing.

We can argue about the ethics of that, but those are some undeniable facts about the situation.

The Batlord · 12-19-2018, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [MERIT]

There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep what you have earned.

There is a big difference between letting someone starve to death right next to you when you have food to spare and people starving thousands of miles away that you will never meet [I know that people can argue that the end result is the same]. I know it's fucked up, but it's reality. Unless you can experience it and be around it, it doesn't affect you as much. That's just part of the human condition. If problems where in our face 24/7, they would get solved. But we keep them out of sight and out of mind.

Yes. That is the point. You feel differently based on proximity but they feel the same no matter where the **** you are. The whole reason this continues is because you don't have to look at it, but that doesn't make it any less of a thing that would keep you up at night if you were forced to see it.

Do you consider yourself more moral than someone with enough money to feed themselves and give themselves at least mild luxuries in a country with famine and pestilence but who do as much as you do to alleviate it?

~~[MERIT]~~ · 12-19-2018, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

I could realistically cover all of my basics while giving away several thousand Danish crowns every month, but I'm not doing it. Maybe some of that, but not even close to 10%, even if I signed up for a monthly donation.

I'm just doing what everyone else is doing, but that's really kind of a weak excuse.

So what's stopping me? Hmmm... selfishness, I think.

I've got an internet connection right here. Could search, find a charity, donate. Boom. Done. But I'm not. Just kinda hard to deny that there is something I could do, that would make a difference to less fortunate people, that I'm not doing.

We can argue about the ethics of that, but those are some undeniable facts about the situation.

It's not selfishness, it's self preservation, which is the reason you are alive.

The Batlord · 12-19-2018, 02:17 PM

Self preservation stops when you buy a TV.

~~[MERIT]~~ · 12-19-2018, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dharma & Greg

Yes. That is the point. You feel differently based on proximity but they feel the same no matter where the **** you are. The whole reason this continues is because you don't have to look at it, but that doesn't make it any less of a thing that would keep you up at night if you were forced to see it.

Do you consider yourself more moral than someone with enough money to feed themselves and give themselves at least mild luxuries in a country with famine and pestilence but who do as much as you do to alleviate it?

Comparing morality is useless, as everyone has a different metric and definition. Do I do everything that I can? No.

~~[MERIT]~~ · 12-19-2018, 02:25 PM

Fuck these giant charities that have CEOs who take gigantic salaries. If you want to give back to society, help those around you. We have to come to the realization that we cannot solve every problem in the world. And for us to try to shoulder them will only bring us despair.

The Batlord · 12-19-2018, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [MERIT]

Comparing morality is useless, as everyone has a different metric and definition. Do I do everything that I can? No.

Under what metric is allowing people to starve to death moral?

~~[MERIT]~~ · 12-19-2018, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dharma & Greg

Under what metric is allowing people to starve to death moral?

When you can't do anything about it, it's not immoral to live one's life.

Say you throw your $5 into the charity bucket the next time you go out. How long will it take that $5 to be transformed into something that will save a life? How much of it will actually go to the people in need and how much of it will go toward the CEO's next yacht?

UntilI I see you selling off all of your material goods and giving the money to charity, you can fuck off with the moral guilt trip.

12-19-2018, 02:00 PM	#563 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I could realistically cover all of my basics while giving away several thousand Danish crowns every month, but I'm not doing it. Maybe some of that, but not even close to 10%, even if I signed up for a monthly donation. I'm just doing what everyone else is doing, but that's really kind of a weak excuse. So what's stopping me? Hmmm... selfishness, I think. I've got an internet connection right here. Could search, find a charity, donate. Boom. Done. But I'm not. Just kinda hard to deny that there is something I could do, that would make a difference to less fortunate people, that I'm not doing. We can argue about the ethics of that, but those are some undeniable facts about the situation.

12-19-2018, 02:25 PM	#568 (permalink)
~~[MERIT]~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Missouri, USA Posts: 4,814	Fuck these giant charities that have CEOs who take gigantic salaries. If you want to give back to society, help those around you. We have to come to the realization that we cannot solve every problem in the world. And for us to try to shoulder them will only bring us despair.