[ExI] keynes vs hayek again, was: RE: 3d printers for sale

[Stefano Vaj]

On 27 August 2012 17:11, Charlie Stross <charlie.stross at gmail.com> wrote:

> Back off even further: how does one define "contribute to the community
> they live in"? (Is a rentier with a private income who devotes their idle
> life to painting or writing fiction -- and is therefore able to produce
> works of art that entertain people but don't necessarily generate enough
> income to live on -- a parasite? What about a rentier with a private income
> who generates employment in the cocaine trade?) Or how about the
> traditional "vicar's wife" or "first lady"? Someone who probably isn't
> working for a living but who is making themselves useful indirectly?
>

Good questions. And the answers are...?


> Or even further: *why* do we consider it useful or morally good for
> everyone to make a tangible contribution?
>

In fact, most of "us" (meaning western citizens) do not, and could not care
less. This is simply a traditional socialist and/or communitarian tenet,
probably out of fashion by now.

-- 
Stefano Vaj
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20120827/541a9602/attachment.html>