On Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 7:32:11 AM UTC-8, Chalo wrote:
John B. wrote:

But why do you insist making your comparison with a society that has,
in many cases, been "on the dole" for generations, that apparently has
no motivation what so ever to hold a job.
[...]
Or to put it another way, how do you help someone who makes no effort
to help himself?

Your eagerness to conflate "no motivation to hold a job" and "no effort to help himself" with unwillingness to contribute to or participate in a system that has cheated and repressed him/her for hundreds of years, and continues to do so, is duly noted. You are entitled to your opinion, but it would make more sense after appropriately scaled reparations are made in full.

As for me, I withhold my participation in a corrupt and broken economic system by only working for my friends (for as little time and money as I can manage to survive on), buying the minimum necessary of the cheapest and simplest possible supplies, making and salvaging almost everything else, and freely gifting and bartering my time and abilities. The first rule of not being manipulated is to minimize the places where your adversary can get a grip on you.

Having too deep a vested interest in a bad way of doing things makes you a worse person. Just look at what car ownership has done to people's character and scruples. The pursuit of money is even worse. And to judge by results, the possession of a concentration of wealth is worst of all.

Just admit it - you are a thief without the courage to hold the gun in your own hand.