I'm sure Chris Reuss's experience is not in the least unique. I believe legions of people learned in our school systems and workplaces that they are stupid and good for little else than amusing themselves and staying away from authorities' boots. For many of them, there may be little to offer now except a decent livelihood and active encouragement to engage in positive ways with the communit--and that may not work. I think this can change for the vast majority when we are willing to put the approporiate portion of resources, intelligence and respect into educating all our children, making sure their homes are not empty or hellish, and offering them as adults a real choice of useful and creative activities--some paid, some not--as part of the Basic Income society. Otherwise BI will fail many people, being nothing but a check in the mail. Sally Lerner Chris wrote: >Yeah, we creative types really dream of the end of 'wage slavery' ! >I could spend years and years only with creative hobbies, NGO volunteering >and the Net, but alas, the 'job' work gets in the way most of the time. >However, in a part of the NGO work I got to know a different kind of >persons: When I created a social programme for unemployed people, I naively >thought they could be put to a (low-level, low-intensity) task and simply do >the work all day, or even find own ideas to work something useful. Wrong. >90% of them did nothing (except reading the newspaper, chatting/arguing, >and other nonsense), unless someone advised them "every move" all the time. >I offered them a variety of opportunities, even a computer system to work >with, and individual courses on it. But they ended up with playing computer >games. They didn't ask me for new projects, but for new games after they >got bored of the old ones. You may say: "See, you're not a social worker..". >But the 'managers' of other similar programmes confirmed the attitude of >the participants. Note: The official purpose of those programmes is to >give the unemployed a structure to increase their chances to get back into >the working mill err process. > >Now, I don't put the blame on those individuals. Rather, I think it was >"the system" that made them like that. Actually, at least in 'lower' >positions, corporations don't seem to want employees with "own brains", but >they want "wage slaves". It will take huge educational and psycho-social >efforts to prepare these people for the Basic Income society, or they will >end up in even more boredom, despair and drugs.
