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This Big Think video on the evolution of work (from fire to farming to cities) reminded me of the book "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, and its framing of Abrahamic cultures setting us on a path from being hunter-gatherer "Leavers" (who like most predators would find some kind of balance with prey and/or resources and the surroundings) to agriculturalist "Takers" - shifting things to the mode of accumulation and a compulsion for endless growth - which might not be the sustainable model we'd have hoped for.

Coming off a period of unemployment followed by starting in a challenging job - having to put a lot of mental and emotional work into tasks with uncertain payouts for the team - it's easy to wish for a better societal balance. One where I had finer-grained options about how I spend my time - enough confidence in access to health care that I could still work but also more freely pursue some more entrepreneurial projects, or lean more into my band communities, or just relax.

Of course for me there has to be the recognition that in a 'more balanced' society, I might easily have less material well-being that I enjoy now. But I still wish we had a structure that was more based on getting a good baseline for everyone and less on show-y accumulation for a few.

I guess I have ambivalence about the interesting diversity of stuff and ideas society offers - I mean we almost all have easy access to a worldwide diversity of flavors and images and songs that even kings of earlier centuries wouldn't have. But for many of us, that comes at the cost of exchanging the one unreplaceable resource we have, our time and attention. (And of course in the USA, it always feels like the false hope of "well maybe someday I'll strike it rich!" drives people to be ok with letting Billionaires hoard as much as they need to placate their egos, more so than in the pre-Reagan days where a tax system could ask more from them while still leaving them with vast wealth.) But we also seem to be losing the thread of community and relationships.

My online buddy Nick responded to some posts about Penn Jillette's pivot from Libertarianism: in one of his many radio shows, Penn told the story about how he got into libertarianism, and it was basically Tim Ferriss (inventor of the Video Toaster) delivering a debate gotcha to him in the 80s, something like "you wouldn't punish someone for something they didn't do, why would you reward someone for something they didn't do?" and because he didn't realize that money isn't a reward, it's a resource that is necessary for survival in societies like ours, and that's why welfare is necessary."

It made me think of Rick and Morty: "Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody's gonna die. Come watch TV." No one asks to be born, and I think better societies do a better job ironing out the unlucky rolls of the dice some people get born with. Those societies have to get through or around a paralyzing fear of "cheaters" and "moochers", and I guess despite automation and resource extraction there's still a good amount of work that can only be done by humans, so you probably still need to align incentives to work. But the way we still see "work ethic" as an intrinsic good is kind of messed up.

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Horses contemplate a bun-bun (Sean countered with "holy_hand_grenade.gif")