# Are there too many 'useless' people in the US?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-too-many-useless-people-in-the-us/596274>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 14, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-too-many-useless-people-in-the-us/596274 "2011-09-14T10:55:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 8

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**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-too-many-useless-people-in-the-us/596274/141 "2016-10-30T11:21:32Z")

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> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> I think you conflated GDP and federal money

I thought you were concerned about their negative impact of welfare on the wider economy. If people taking in more than they contribute doesn’t hurt the economy then I’d like to see you lay out why you think this could be a problem.

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**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-too-many-useless-people-in-the-us/596274/142 "2016-10-30T16:04:32Z")

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> [@eburacum45](#):
>
> Something we are missing here is the impact of automation. Unless there is a major civilisation collapse in the next hundred years, the vast majority of industries will need few employees. Are we to force people to do make-work tasks just to ‘contribute to society as best they can?’ There is a limit to the number of hand-thrown teapots we can use.
> 
> It seems to me that both socialism and libertarianism struggle with the concept of abundance; both philosophies believe in the concept of ’ a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay’, and both excoriate ‘non-contributors’; they just disagree on who the ‘non-contributors’ are.
> 
> In a hundred years or so most people will be ‘non-contributors’- perhaps then we can get on with living our lives.

That’s why I’m in favor of no minimum wage and a basic income. At some point human labor may be obsolete yet people will still need to make exchanges.

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**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-too-many-useless-people-in-the-us/596274/143 "2016-10-31T00:01:07Z")

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> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> And from I’ve seen in my experience, some “useless” people are simply terrified to go out in the world and do something useful. One woman I know actually got a job, then stood outside the building the first day, totally terrified of going in there. She just couldn’t do it.
> 
> I do not know how to fix that problem.

You can’t, she would have to seek a mental therapist but this is why there was some political discussions regarding free health care services to deal the America’s mental health issues.  
Typically, most just don’t have the mentality to break free of what they have known their whole lives and obsession with one’s comfort zone is just another mental problem that only that individual will have to deal with on their own. Our world is divisive and everyone is truly on their own in regards to their capabilities.

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