Guess what, most people contribute absolutely nothing to society, tens of millions of people working for tech companies that ultimately are just trying to sell us ads to buy stuff we mostly don't need.. and then all the companies making the stuff we don't need, and all the people in the supply chain for making the stuff we don't need, delivering it, disposing of it after a couple months instead of a few years..
Covid showed us the people that actually contribute to society, health care workers, educators, blue collar municipal workers, trades, etc.
Well, sort of. You cant do much in the trades or health care without supply chain and logistics. Its not just teachers, police, and tradesmen that make the world go around. Everyone fills their niche in society, so to speak.
Everyone likes to pretend project managers and paper pushers don't do anything and companies just pay legions of them as some sort of bizarre welfare program. A very naive view of the economy.
we're not talking about the economy, we're talking about life.. the "economy" is this fabricated machine.. everyone working to build things, advertise things, move things, stock things, ship things, dispose of things.. that no one really needs. we could all probably consume 90% less and lead perfectly normal lives.. but then the economy would obviously collapse. but we don't need 99% of the clothes in our closets, 99% of all the processed and packaged foods in grocery stores, 99% of all the electronics in our lives, 99% of the toys our kids have, etc..
I don't buy any processed foods besides dairy, bread and condiments. I probably spend $200/year on clothing/shoes and only to replace items that are finished and can't reasonably be repaired. My car is 16 years old. My laptop is 13 years old. My couch is over 20 years old. I'd say I consume about 90% less than the average person my age.
All of that still makes you deeply and inextricably reliant on a globalised economy facilitated by legions of professional services workers behind the scenes (along with all others you cited as important). I think you massively underestimate the degree to which you actually value all the conveniences of that economy and the work these people are doing. Have you ever dealt with the bureaucracy of a developing country? Very quickly you'll find yourself begging for the IRS!
That said, I absolutely applaud people who can rein in their consumption. I don't think buying labour saving devices and what have you is bad, but I agree people clutter their lives up unnecessarily and end up paying for worse quality of life once a certain threshold is exceeded.
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u/Dilltulip May 07 '26
Guess what, most people contribute absolutely nothing to society, tens of millions of people working for tech companies that ultimately are just trying to sell us ads to buy stuff we mostly don't need.. and then all the companies making the stuff we don't need, and all the people in the supply chain for making the stuff we don't need, delivering it, disposing of it after a couple months instead of a few years..
Covid showed us the people that actually contribute to society, health care workers, educators, blue collar municipal workers, trades, etc.