> Morality here is about treating workers with a minimum level of dignity based on human rights
Why "workers", why not "citizens" or "people"?
The tragedy in the US is that the government has successfully abdicated its responsibility to care for its people and has convinced everyone that they must be defined by their job, or by their productivity, and that any societal benefits or safety net they obtain in life is a reward for that work, as opposed to simply having it because their country cares for them.
If you want to bring "human rights" into the conversation, let's stop connecting it with compensation and productivity.
Edit: on re-read, it sounds like I'm arguing with you or rebuking what you're saying. I'm not. I agree with what you're saying, just adding on that it should be a broader conversation. =)
The "why workers" is partially history and social contract as a framework for incentives which has a long legacy. If they contribuite to the system then they have a claim to the basics. If they don't why bother working?
If they were voluntarily idle then there would be a harsh factual basis of not being enough to feed them when there was work to be done. That was the logic of the past anyway. It may not be a right or good answer but it is /a/ reason.
Obviously things change with time and we are on an appatent trajectory to an "awkward middle" of both needing people to do some advanced work and outrunning useful tasks performable by everyone. Incentivizing upskilling to those who can perform non-automatable jobs while avoiding a defacto fixed underclass makes it extra awkward.
Why "workers", why not "citizens" or "people"?
The tragedy in the US is that the government has successfully abdicated its responsibility to care for its people and has convinced everyone that they must be defined by their job, or by their productivity, and that any societal benefits or safety net they obtain in life is a reward for that work, as opposed to simply having it because their country cares for them.
If you want to bring "human rights" into the conversation, let's stop connecting it with compensation and productivity.
Edit: on re-read, it sounds like I'm arguing with you or rebuking what you're saying. I'm not. I agree with what you're saying, just adding on that it should be a broader conversation. =)