No, this is Capitalism and our culture. There were and still are societies where there is very little competition between individuals or even where the concept of “competition” is unknown.

This works with small communuties living naturally, like tribes in South America. But I think with technological advancement and a cultural shift towards are more social and less individualistic society this could also work on greater scales.

While I see your point, this could be extended to people doing dangerous sports for fun, eating unhealthy foods or engaging in any activity where one could get hurt.

As a human being with my own rule over my own body I have the right to do with it as I please.

If I want to consume addictive cancer sticks until I die a slow, painful death, I have the natural freedom to do so, and laws, taxes or fines won’t stop me until I’m really locked away.

So I support other peoples freedom to smoke. It is just inhaling smoke from burning plant matter, which may be an irrational choice, but is my choice.

But, automating work and eliminating jobs should make people’s lives… better?

Sure, but not yours or mine, it seems.

And this is just one thing we underestimated. I am sure there are many other factors which influence the climate that we either do not know yet or severly underestimate the effects that even a minor change will have. Have a nice life everyone!

These were questions to ask yourself, to think about what really matters.

Wants do not equal needs. I might want to have a superyacht, but do I need one? Am I entitled to one? If I work “really hard”, is it fair that I get to spend tons of resources on my superyacht, while other people don’t know how to feed their children?

Yes, other people might want luxuries and technology, too. But is it fair that these luxuries / wealth are accumulating in the hands of a few individuals while there are people in the world who literally live in the dirt without a roof?

Maybe, if I wasn’t allowed to have my superyacht, we could improve living conditions for a lot of people, prevent people from dying etc. It is a distribution problem, and in a world of limited resources, we should strive to provide a more or less equal amount of wealth to every single human being, instead of a few guys having superyachts while others can barely afford shoes.

Also, since you wrote “free country” I assume you are American - I really cannot understand how someone could in all seriousness believe that they live in a free country. This is not a free country, you are not free. Sure, we can argue about the definition of “freedom”, but from my point of view people are not truly free when there are economic constraints, you can get shot because your skin does not have the right color, because of your sexual preferences, or even just because you have a fucking multicolored flag outside your store.

I don’t see myself as truly free either, but at least I have the possibilty to choose to do fuck all with my life, never working a single hour, never providing anything of “value” to society, and still I get provided basic necessities and an monthly income which can finance a basic life. I will not die because I can’t afford a doctor, I will not get shot because I am in the wrong neighborhood, police won’t approach me with drawn weapons if my skin is a little darker.

Now this got way too long, but maybe someone might read this some time and think a little bit about wants, needs, “freedom” and superyachts.

Is there an inherent need to have something like “businesses”? Do I have to be rewarded? Do I need all those niche products provided by those businesses?

Humans exist for a very long time. I am quite sure our ancestors survived pretty well without businesses, rewards, incentives, cosumerism or capitalism. Edit: And without billionaires. Especially without billionaires.

Someone who lets his employees piss in bottles because they don’t get breaks, someone who uses his excess wealth for unnecessary luxuries, using up an unimaginable amount of resources, preventing other people from using them, someone who lives in his billionaire bubble not giving a fuck about people or the environment - someone like this deserves just one thing.

Totally unrelated:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine

Nothing is happening. There is absolutely no reason to change anything. Now go back to work.

I feel quite hungry lately