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Does Work Make A Person Moral? Or: What Should We Do About ‘Unproductive’ Humans?
The most consequential question of our future concerns a person’s intrinsic worth when basic needs are essentially free.
I have a 36 year old cousin who’s never had a job. Near as I can tell, he spends his time drinking, skiing, and playing video games. My aunt and uncle support him, their son, and though they have the means to do so, they are in no way rich, and it appears from where we stand that my cousin’s idle life demands emotional sacrifice from his parents, gifts he refuses to acknowledge. Our cousin is, in fact, pretty much an asshole about his life, needy and whiny and privileged.
We in the extended family are just as frustrated with my cousin’s parents as we are with him. Why don’t they kick him out? we mutter amongst ourselves. Make him get a job, pay for groceries at least. Stop giving him money to buy games and beer. Why do they let him get away with being such a worthless bastard? It might be easier if they didn’t themselves often seem miserable about the whole state of affairs. On the other hand, despite their misery, my cousin’s parents have fed few personal needs to their son’s appetites. They live decent lives without great unjust sacrifice. They may deny themselves wants — a bigger…
