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It is not inherently exploitation but it can be. Any non-necessity, this is valid. But the second you talk about the essentials -- food, water, shelter, medical care -- the scales tip completely to the provider and against the requester.

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Aella

@Aella_Girl

Dec 21, 2021

If you voluntarily make an exchange with someone else, both of you gain value; both of you would prefer to have what you got from the trade more than what you lost. This isnt exploitation, trade isnt zero sum. Billions of these little value gains are what civilization is made of!

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Replying to

@synthicyde

wonder how you woulda done in very early stage civilization where most of all trading was done for essentials that could only be gained for a ton of labor

8:01 PM · Dec 21, 2021

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I personally would not have done well. Literally yesterday I was discussing with my doctor how if I was around in early society I would mostly be dead by now due to my immune system disorder. I would be shunned from work and probably homeless until I died, most likely from sepsis

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and

Our system today is immeasurably more fair than then. But I still make exchanges for essentials every day that I feel could be made much more fair. Recently i was in the ER. That wasn't voluntary. I mean I could have chose not to go and not to pay, but then I would be dead.