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We Are All In This Together [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-07-31
What’s the point of civilization?
I’d say, it’s all of us banding together to take care of all of us.
Otherwise, what’s the point? If I can’t trust the community I join to take care of me, there’s no reason to join that community. I might as well attack that community and take their resources for my own.
The point of community is, I’m better off joining than going off on my own, or worse, using violence to steal.
The ideal of civilization is simple: we all subscribe to a social contract in which we are all responsible for everyone else. In effect, nobody wants for shelter, food, or entertainment. We already know we can provide this, so there’s no question of outcome.
It’s a question of political will.
Oakland, CA, just dismantled their largest homeless encampment:
This is humanity at its worst.
In the US, we have the resources to take care of our indigent population. We have the resources to house, feed, and (in the most capitalistic way*) train the homeless.
We just choose not to.
I claim the point of civilization is to take care of everyone. Period. Full stop. No questions of “What if someone takes advantage?”
Mostly because, the ones who take advantage aren’t the ones without work, or without home. Those people have no voice. The ones taking advantage are the ones requiring work. They are the ones who can buy both legislation, and the work of other people.
* Let’s face it: capitalism *requires* a certain level of joblessness, to be ready to supply ever-changing levels of job demand, based entirely on what is currently required by the job market. That’s one of the reasons low unemployment numbers feed into higher inflation numbers.
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