What Do We Owe Each Other?

[PC2]

Those aren't trivial examples. Those define the heart of a society.

Well stuff like a turn signal and holding a door open doesn't require much effort.

If the topic changed to millions of Muslim refugees the logistics are wildly different, paying for the housing and everything requires a large commitment.

[belfpala]

Well stuff like a turn signal and holding a door open doesn't require much effort.

It's a signature characteristic of a population. For example, the question, "Do you trust your neighbor to return your wallet?" correlates strongly with the physical health of a region.

[Fencers]

Nothing. The concept exists as a social conceit.

[Zmaniac17]

In a game I'd go tit for tat, offer half sandwich first and hope they respond in kind. And if they don't then in the future you don't offer the sandwich. But if at anytime in the future they offer a sandwich you immediately revert to sharing again.

In reality it is much harder to trust anyone without an established relationship. It depends how much is on the line. If it's immediate death either because they could kill me or I could starve then I'd be much less likely to be generous, much less let them near me.

If it is not death on the line then it would probably be easier to establish a good relationship overtime.

It also depends on power dynamics. If I'm in a position of power I might be more likely to assist. In other words if I had plenty to give and did not fear the other person I'd be generous even if it was not immediately beneficial to do so.

People tend to be very willing to help anyone they have a direct relationship with even if it doesn't immediately benefit them, because we've evolved as a species to live in groups. And these actions assist the groups survival as a whole.


Edit:
On a side note, I think major problems in society comes from the lack of direct relationships with the people who's lives we are effecting through our actions. Our actions now have global consequence due to the size of our interconnected economic system. We have not evolved to be compassionate about those who we do not directly interact with in some way. For a good example you can look at how disaster aid donations correlate with television coverage of the disaster. We just don't care if we can't see it.

Given that our fates are so tightly intertwined, I think it is a problem that must be somehow addressed through the creation of institutions that embody our ethical desires. An "I've got mine, go get your own" mentality is cancerous when applied to society as a whole. Especially when you consider the productivity of the society is based on cooperation as much as it is competition.

[Mistame]

Aside from general respect, etc, for other human beings, nothing.

[Deleted]

No one owes me anything and I don't owe anyone out there anything either.
I choose to give to people I personally know and care for, no one else.

I easily shrug off all the suffering and misery in the world because it's always been like that and always will be. No reason why I and the people close t me can't have a nice life.

[Independent voter]

We had several "utopias" back in the 1800's in the US, communities where when you joined would help you out in every way they could.

Almost all of these utopias failed, the productive citizens don't like being taken advantage of by the lazy. Some of them are still around though they've given up their utopian ideals long ago, Amana is one and they now make electrical appliances. The religious utopias lasted the longest which is no surprise but they failed in the end too.

Which brings me to a place like Sweden, just singling Sweden out as an example, most EU countries are similar. But if you're a Swedish citizen, you can be as lazy as you want and the productive will carry you. It's like being carried in WoW.

Why is that? Why haven't the productive just quit?

My guess is that it's hard to quit your nation but I bet a lot of the Swedish productive do hide their money as much as they can.

[Daedius]

A frustrated game of monopoly.

[Projectmars]

Funny how most of this would be solved by communism

Funny how stuff that generally revolves around people not being assholes tends to fail horribly.

[PC2]

We had several "utopias" back in the 1800's in the US, communities where when you joined would help you out in every way they could.

Almost all of these utopias failed, the productive citizens don't like being taken advantage of by the lazy. Some of them are still around though they've given up their utopian ideals long ago, Amana is one and they now make electrical appliances. The religious utopias lasted the longest which is no surprise but they failed in the end too.

Which brings me to a place like Sweden, just singling Sweden out as an example, most EU countries are similar. But if you're a Swedish citizen, you can be as lazy as you want and the productive will carry you. It's like being carried in WoW.

Why is that? Why haven't the productive just quit?

Even if there was 100% tax(confiscation) I think there would still be an incentive to work. Working in a business gives you access to networks and some skills that you can't get anywhere else. So even if money isn't a significant factor you'll still get an edge over non-productive people. Welfare systems aren't eternal either, when austerity kicks in having a great resume is even more important.

My guess is that it's hard to quit your nation but I bet a lot of the Swedish productive do hide their money as much as they can.

I'm not sure what you mean by hide money. If you're self-employed you could not report revenue but if you're an employee then you typically would not have control over that.

[Othraerir]

tree fiddy