There’s something unseemly about a society where a lot of people have to rely on charity to survive and there is an uncritical charity-cheerleading track of the discourse flowing withgratitude, humility, etc. I appreciate those who do basics-giving, but it’s a job for taxes
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Blanche duBois in A Streetcar Named Desire is of course the best-known American portrayal of the oppressiveness of “kindness of strangers” cultures. Tennessee Williams’ other play Glass Menagerie has similar themes. There was a really good quote by him on dignity I can’t find
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Basically, problems created by industrial scale extraction, negative externalities, or direct cruelty can’t be solved by palliative measures based on family and church scale compassion. Impedance mismatch. You need same responses that rhyme with the causes.
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It’s like pretending Covid19 is just the flu and everybody should just walk it off. People being forced to use GoFundMes as de facto health insurance isn’t heartwarming humanism. It’s a blaring systemic emergency alarm. I’m glad the option exists, but it shouldn’t have to.
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Re UBI, I have very mixed feelings about it. LVT otoh, seems truly like a bit of a cure-all here. https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1249060360402829312?s=21 …https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1249060360402829312 …
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In a sufficiently simple and primitive world, privatizing the rewards of success to a degree while socializing the costs of failure almost entirely, is a win-win for everybody. In a sufficiently complex and technologically advanced world, it tends to be a lose-lose.
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It’s because the taller and wobblier the tech stack, the deeper the hole failures can put you in. Innovation goes from antifragile to fragile with the height of the stack it rely on. And when things fail, they hurt more people, more badly. Beyond the scope of personal charity.
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There’s something silly about expecting churches and gofundmes to fix externalities of say heavy metal contamination, asbestos, slums created by redlining and highway systems, and pandemics spread by globalized industry. America bridges the gap with lawsuits. Not ideal.
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It is also hit-or-miss, leaves people vulnerable to personal animosities, prejudice, leaves out people with invisible disability as being less worthy, and is grossly inefficient.
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I’ve been on both sides (and had people close to me on both sides) and didn’t see any deep resentment. Initial embarrassment maybe, but also gratitude. Not saying it doesn’t happen but not the norm, at least when administered with compassion.
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