Re: lack of evolutionary pressures (was Re: An end to "courtappointed attorneys")

[Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk>]

Bill Frantz <frantz@netcom.com> writes:
> At 2:43 AM -0700 8/23/97, Adam Back wrote:
> >The real problem is that the pervasive bleeding heart
> >socialist/communist welfare system mentality will ensure that you'll
> >never manage it.
> >
> >"The children" is a war cry which will ensure the continuance of state
> >funded negative evolutionary pressures.
> 
> Don't always assume that these are negative evolutionary pressures.  One of
> the hallmarks of Homo's evolutionary survival has been the ability to live
> in many niches.  Welfare is one niche, and no one should be surprised when
> organisms decide to live in an available niche.

Welfare does indeed seem to be a thriving niche.

> The question is, what happens when that niche goes away?

We get to see how well the welfare recipient adapts.  Guess we get
some real life evolutionary pressures :-)

However, I think that western countries are rich enough that there's
not really much danger of anyone starving to death.  Most of the
welfare recipients could find sufficient employment to feed themselves
if they had no other choice.

> For example, I have one friend who raised her two children (spaced
> 12 years apart) on welfare.  They are now grown and she has a job as
> a Unix sysadmin.  She obviously has the ability to move from niche
> to niche.  (And doesn't subscribe to the Protestant work ethic.)

Yeah, I'm not trying to be insensitive.  I know how to work systems
just as well as any other.  Clearly plenty of intelligent people can
make a decision to work the welfare system to their financial
advantage.

My claim was that the average welfare recipient is less intelligent
than the average non-welfare recipient.  There will be plenty of
counter examples, lazy people, people who have more interesting things
to do than work, and are happy enough with the adequate lifestyle
welfare brings.

It does seem unfair however for those who could easily obtain work to
live from the indirectly stolen assetts of those who are working for a
living.

Adam
-- 
Have *you* exported RSA today? --> http://www.dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/rsa/

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