Sup bros. I’d say this one is at least 200% better than the last one and it’s objectively 60% longer. That wouldn’t have been possible without everyone who contributed their opinions, talent, and time. Much obliged. If I didn’t include your submission in this one, let’s keep workshopping it and it’ll be in the next one. Again, the actual PDF file is a better consumption experience than the pics below. They’re included just in case the PDF fucks up for some reason.
Hate reading? Illiterate? Blind? I still got you covered! Just listen to this vid:
No NEET Comics this issue unfortunately. I don’t like it either but I am no manga artisan. If you are, get in touch with me at: https://neetpride.wordpress.com/contact/
This week we have another guest columnist: Thor. I met Thor through my brother a while back when I was looking for a new roommate. Even though he is now a NEET, Thor works harder than any human I’ve ever met and he is the sole reason I can get anything done. Okay enough lame jokes. Using Thor’s graphics card I trained GPT2 on the six posts I wrote here most recently for 2 epochs, gave the resulting model the prompt “NEETdom means”, and this was the 300 word output on the first try with default settings:
NEETdom means “the practice of living by your own standards rather than those of society”. This might seem counterintuitive, but I think the vast majority of NEETs still consider society a waste of time. So they become even more enamored of vengeance against the “idiot rich”. NEETpride is a great way to make sure these “enemies of the community” don’t turn to all the political bullshit.
They actively work to demonize NEETdom, even going as far as fomenting riots and wagecucks being involved in them to shut down any discussion about how their behavior is somehow inherently better than everyone else’s. After all, we’re the people who actually decided not to shoplift.
To their credit most working class NEETs use the media to let their discontent be heard. Unfortunately some in the media hate working class communities, hence the bile. The media regularly use “looters” to describe NEETdom as inherently violent. This contributes to a media myth that working class communities are inherently violent. The media is a vicious beast and working class people everywhere, no matter their stance on violent video games or wagecucks, deserve a full airing. So fuck the looters and all the drama.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Human NEETpride here again. If I wasn’t already whitepilled on work, if I didn’t make clear long ago that I refuse to profit from this shitty blog, the ability of my computer to replicate my writing style would worry me. I wouldn’t have shared this with you. It’s solely thanks to the fact that I’m a NEET that I have the freedom to do so. No matter how important you think you are, you are disposable. The fact of the matter is that the NEETs will inherit the Earth, be it by wagecucks embracing NEETpride… or wagecucks all committing suicide.
I tried generating an additional 500 word sample (that continues from the above section) to see what came out. Not quite as coherent, but here it is:
Start providing the facts, facts, and continue telling these bile-loving NEETs how violent our communities are. It’s just easier to play the victim when people who do not live in your social circle think you’re too unfair to participate in the discussion. And fuck the puritan media.
It was a goal of the press ethics board to prevent Trump from running and ethics in media are now far more acceptable than ever before. Even Trump himself was forced to backtrack after a video was published where he tried to justify firing of “30,000 police” and other types screaming shame on the protesters. The fact is all these rioters were literally abusing their right to assemble, not rioting.
NEETs have never been more popular, and it’s been well documented that the vast majority of NEETs are very active online. The only problem is most establishment media still only covers wagecucks, the ones most actively pursuing a career in media.
Of course even more importantly we have a history of media conspiracy theories that have no basis in reality. Slavery was part of the mainstream media mythos from the beginning. Poke around for a while and you will come across stories about how the abolitionists wanted to use scare tactics like walking into gun shops to shut them down. I actually stumbled upon this theory when working for this shit in the 1800s, it is highly controversial today but came from the highest of the correct places.
The really interesting story comes from the 1960s when a self-described NEET living with his parents tried to trick government workers into discharging them with NEETdom by selling books they knew would incite riots. It was surprisingly successful but something must have happened to destroy this myth.
I wouldn’t say it’s on the decline, but the 8 year old riots definitely made people think twice about ditching their NEET lifestyle in favor of becoming hard NEETs. Sadly after that 8 year period NEETs who started demanding equality have been conveniently forgotten. To be fair, there was plenty of trash talking in the NEETs face so it wasn’t like everyone was begging for their blood.
Some guys on 8chan have been busy bringing up America’s past slave masters for years and years. When our ancestors started demanding NEETdom they too were also being used.
At the time of writing we’re already on the second wave of riots with more to come later this summer. It’s pretty much guaranteed something like this will happen when you combine mass unemployment with hot weather with the generally tense cultural and political climate. Make no mistake, police brutality is merely a convenient catalyst for the riots, not the underlying cause. And they’re only about race insofar as black people tend to lead the way in these sorts of things.
What does this mean for NEETs?
Well for starters, if you live near one of these big cities and don’t leave your room now you forfeit the right to complain about being “bored”. This is the most exciting time in to be an American in over 50 years. Society is about to re-revolutionize. You think work and wealth inequality are bad now? It was even worse before the labor riots over 100 years ago. The things we take for granted now like weekends and the 8 hour workday we only have because of riots such as the infamous Haymarket affair back in 1886. Arguably both the right to weekends and 8 hour workdays have slipped away as the workforce migrated to a service/gig economy i.e. as jobs became less endeavors necessary to the success of humanity and more like blood sacrifices to the god of Economy.
Ever since the 2008 Great Recession this general malaise has permeated the country. Then during the COVID pandemic people realized the government could print out (sorry, “borrow from the future indefinitely”) $2,000,000,000,000 dollars and give us each $1,200/month with solely positive impacts on the citizens, megacorps, and the economy to boot. Turns out the stock market is just fine and inflation doesn’t occur when we get a UBI, at least for one month. The malaise of the 2010s isn’t just being replaced with understanding though, it’s being replaced with anger. People are pissed that as much as we got during the pandemic, megacorps who didn’t really need the cash were bailed out way more. People are pissed that the current system is unfair and more importantly, nonsensical. People are pissed that they could have been living the comfy NEETlife they were forced to during the pandemic lockdown this entire time. As more and more of them start to retire, even boomers are starting to realize NEETlife=sweetlife.
In some ways things haven’t changed that much since 1886. Riots are still how you get rights. Unfortunately it’s still difficult for a large portion of the population to outright admit they want to be NEET. They still have NEETshame instead of NEETpride. So we get all these bullshit reasons to justify the riots to give them a veil of puritanical ethics. People are burning down way more stores than police residences/precincts. It’s just kind of silly to pretend this is solely about some black guy getting killed by a cop, but I can’t deny it’s much better optics. If the rioters were honest about why they’re doing what they’re doing it’d be much easier to paint them as spoiled children. With an organized group like BLM supporting the rioters and many establishment politicians submitting to their righteous anger, the rioters are seen as more moral than plain old NEETs.
But should you go?
Given that being a NEET is epitomized by being comfy, I actually think no… unless looting is rampant like it was in NYC and LA. Things got crazy enough near where I live that someone tried burning down a courthouse but I didn’t go because there wasn’t any looting. I weighed the risks and rewards and decided that despite the fact most rioters weren’t arrested, if I can’t get at least a PS4 out of it I’m not risking going to jail. Although being in jail is technically a form of NEETdom it’s definitely the lowest form of NEETdom.
Don’t let my selfishness stop you though. Like I said earlier, it is necessary to create a world where everyone can be a NEET. Even without the opportunity to loot a ton of free shit with potentially no repercussions from police, participating in riots is certainly a once in a lifetime experience. Just be aware of the risks. Of course there are also the other rioters to worry about, not to mention armed store owners. Several people have died in shootouts resulting from store owners defending their store. Apparently some of the wealthier store owners have started employing mercenaries to guard their shops. So not only do you have to be prepared to be arrested, you have to be prepared to die. There’s a pretty small risk of it happening, but it’s there.
What should you do?
So, you decided to go to the riots. First of all, know that you can be a support class by leaving bricks, gasoline, fireworks, vinegar-soaked bandanas, goggles, cardboard boxes, water, crowbars, and first aid around the area. Just $200 goes a long way. You can be a spotter for other rioters as well; maybe invest in a $100 police scanner if possible. If you prefer creation to destruction, you can become a memer class and put up flyers and graffiti. Cover your face. Prioritize ability to move over protection with your clothes. Don’t bring your phone. Acquire a $50 4 pack of walkie talkies if you can though, because the most important things to bring are friends. To be honest I don’t have too much to say about this, but here are a few helpful things I found:
Editor’s note: Another NEET I met on reddit, Sevarchy, contacted me recently to discuss UBI. He had a lot to say about it and eventually I asked him to compile his thoughts into a guest article. He’s getting a NEET spotlight next week!
I’ve always agreed with the idea of a universal basic income. The arguments against it always seemed terrible to me. I remember even discussing this a while ago with a few people and they vomited the typical counterarguments like how some people won’t have incentive to work or how there will be inflation. The worst is when they just directly tell you to “get a job” or assume you are lazy. I really hate average people who tend to empower themselves by looking down at others who are just not as financially successful. They rarely ever see how those at the top live their lives. From a billionaire’s perspective, we are all peasants, and generally this minority class does the least work and gets the most reward. They typically just press buttons behind a computer then take multiple vacations a year on their yachts. But average people don’t want to see from their perspective, and instead just shame everyone below them. Strangely, this minority class gets the most free stuff out of all the participants in the market, yet most of the population shames the unemployed along with welfare recipients. We seriously have truly reached a point where UBI should be implemented and it’s gaining some traction with this new democratic candidate. I thought he would just get quickly dismissed, but that’s surprisingly not happening.
My personal arguments for a basic income are simple. First of all, everything you do is actually work. Just existing forces you to work and a lot of things you do in life actually intersect with paid jobs. Being a consumer is work. In a market, a seller needs a buyer and a buyer needs money. Often times buyers do not have money for things outside of their control. Also, even the act of purchasing a good or service requires some basic understanding of it or some establishment of trust, and educating yourself and even thinking is work. The government also can take potential work away by issuing regulations, and often times they don’t compensate for this. A UBI is also important so people can sometimes buy overpriced products with inflated profit margins anyway. It can give people more negotiating power when they feel goods are overpriced. From a humanistic perspective, basic income is also important so it gets rid of poverty and gives people more security. I personally often walk outside and get asked by money from homeless people when I am currently jobless myself. I think this is quite a serious problem for a first world country, especially considering we may have the means to pay for a basic income at this point in time. A basic income is also useful because it can get rid of the middleman in a somewhat broken welfare system. I think a flat $1000/month policy is just way more efficient. Another interesting point to consider, is how people can spend money and buy goods at any given moment – 24 hours within the day – but practically no one has the option to actually make money through real labor at any given moment, which is quite strange. Also, in a more practical sense, is it truly fair for a government to issue financial aid to single mothers, or to people with disabilities, or to families below the poverty line, but not reward healthy people through a monthly check who are contributing to society? A basic income sounds very reasonable and it’s a great thing to consider arguments without even talking about how automation will strip away millions of jobs in the future.
Another interesting perspective that crossed my mind in support of a basic income years ago is how humans should simply have a higher degree of freedom. Humans are apex predators, and if we compare ourselves to other animals who are on top of the food chain – like lions – we can see how they live their lives with a certain degree of freedom, and hunt and gather as needed. They live in an arena of abundance, and from their perspective, everything is basically free, and it’s just up to them to have enough motivation to get up and pursue their food as needed. Their “work” is fun because they literally evolved to do it and they do not really work on a set schedule. All human beings should have a higher degree of freedom compared to these animals, yet we live in a 9 to 5 clockwork system which is just very unnatural, especially for young men and women. Yang has even talked about how he wants young folks to travel across states to find work, and he realizes that a basic income will allow young folks to do this. This somewhat ties into my comparison with humans and lions – humans can now be given the ability to explore more options, and live a bit more naturally. Although we are not exactly lions, we do need a higher degree of freedom and the opportunity to explore and be more adventurous. And in truth we ought to be living exponentially better than wild animals, not merely keeping pace with them.
If you’re 18-34 and you’re fiscally liberal, would you actually care much about health care, free college, or a $15/hr. minimum wage? In this age bracket, we are generally young and healthy so we are not worried about our health that much. Free college can still be obtained if you’re poor enough through the Pell Grant or maybe by going to a community college then transferring over. A $15/hr minimum wage won’t be enough especially in the coastal states where the cost of living is much higher. Instead of making $10/hr in California, an extra $5/hr isn’t really going to be enough. So why not go with the more extreme and correct policy of a flat $1000/mo. basic income? What’s college really getting you these days? If you do not study a STEM based field or go all the way for a graduate degree, your chances of a decent paying job is still quite low. It also takes a bit of luck getting a good job and you need connections in most cases. In reality, free college, a higher minimum wage, and free health care is all just noise and nonsense. If you check the mortality rates in USA for ages 18-34 it’s just really really low and college has lost most of its value. If you check the graduation rates these days, it is quite low.
UBI should not be dismissed so quickly anymore. There are a lot of people who do work and get paid nothing for it. And there are a lot of people who do barely any work and get paid an amount they don’t deserve. I think the future will challenge the idea of “work” itself, and if we factor in the coming wave of automation, where millions of people will lose jobs, UBI makes a lot of sense. To try and dismiss UBI by stating that it may cause inflation may have been a somewhat decent argument a decade ago, but less skilled labor will eventually be substituted by robots, so the value of the dollar won’t really go down. Basic income will also pay for itself considering people will be healthier and less stressed, so there will be less health care costs and less crime. The invisible hand within the market will automatically react and make adjustments. If businesses feel that they can overcharge for goods since they realize people have extra spending money, it will only take 1 business to lower their prices and attract consumers. There will not really be inflation as everything will naturally adjust based on these market forces.
I’m part of the Yang Gang. I actually donated for the first time in my life to a politician. Andrew Yang will probably not win, and I thought he was a joke of a candidate when I read about him and watched a video about him 2 years ago, but he seems extremely intelligent, and unlike Trump, is a successful entrepreneur who did not bankrupt several companies. I also like how he calls the basic income a “Freedom Dividend” to appeal to more richer folks who buy and sell stocks, so they get convinced as well. It truly is a fair libertarian policy, where regardless of how much you make, you still receive a form of payment from the government. Hopefully Yang is the one who overthrows Trump – anybody else defeating him is just going to give us nothing.
In conclusion, I’ve been telling people who don’t give a shit about politics the following – Do you want bullshit? Or do you want bullshit plus $1000/month? I’ve made my decision, and hopefully I convinced you too.
The number one issue UBI detractors cite is “the economy would collapse if everyone got free money because everyone would stop being productive.” This would sort of serve as another data point not in their favor, but more importantly, it would serve as a data point for the members/housemates as to what they actually would do if they could quit their job. Well, MOST importantly, this is a real-world NEETdom plan that could be implemented tomorrow.
I’ve been kicking around the idea lately for a NEET houseshare. Basically we get like 12 guys and all rent a 6 bedroom house so about $2500/month including utilities (with ~12MB/s household net access) if we rent in my homestate NC. It’d likely even cheaper if someone did this in the middle of the country, but plasma compensation might be lower too. We sell our plasma (which takes ~7 hours/week) for tax-free income. That’s $3600/month if we all did the 7 hours every week. If we bought most of our groceries in bulk, $1100 is plenty for 12 adult men for 1 month. I’m not entirely sure, but I think women cannot live thriftily as easily as men and have a greater need for privacy too. Also I think housemates fucking each other in quarters this close is a recipe for disaster.
If someone wants to work a job or use welfare or get money from their parents and have their own room, or if 3 guys want to squeeze together to have more pocket money, that’s cool. We’d mostly just hang out and do whatever we felt like. Honestly you could choose to hang with the group or not. This is mostly about having sustainable NEETdom. Think a college dorm but we can drink openly. For everyone’s benefit, there would definitely be rules though. Because I’d ultimately be the one on the lease for my NEEThouse, the core rules I’d impose are:
1) no pets. I personally like animals, but they’d just cause too many logistics problems
2) no selling drugs. I personally like drugs, but selling them would just cause too many logistics problems. doing drugs is totally fine by me though, so long as you follow the other rules
3) all members must provide a 4 months “dues” deposit in advance and give 3 months notice before they leave. it might seem like a long time, but it would be extremely difficult to find new people to join this highly niche arrangement. also 4 months of dues would only be about $1000
4) don’t leave human waste/food/drinks/used dishes out in the open. the only mess I care about and the only one that actually has an impact is that which attracts bugs. going all paper plates is one solution. this isn’t about being green after all. “tidyness” i.e. mess regarding specifically non-perishable/non-food items will not be against the rules. leave your clothes and books wherever you want, except in each person’s room half. it’s kind of wishful thinking to hold a house like this to a tidy standard and doing so will likely just piss off the people with a lower tolerance for untidyness. I’d put triple the typical amount of trashcans all throughout the house to encourage their use
5) a zero tolerance policy for violating someone’s personal space or stealing their property, but that should go without saying. I also think it’s imperative to somehow record/mark everything that is for private ownership only and for communal use. if you bring some living room furniture or some condiments, you’d probably mark it as for communal use i.e. you forfeit the right to “tell someone to get out of your chair” or “why don’t you buy the next bottle of siracha?”. some nice beer or your laptop you’d probably mark as private i.e. if anyone wants to consume/use it, they must acquire your permission first, every time, and not getting your permission will be considered stealing their property. everything you bring defaults to private unless otherwise noted. you can switch something to communal whenever you want, but you can only switch back to private if you leave the house (to prevent abuse of the system). bulk food would be communal, but every member would likely spend some portion of their “UBI” on fancier, tastier private food. I think a clear system like this is imperative if the houseshare is to work
6) pay dues (your portion of rent + utility bills + bulk food + cleaning supplies costs) on time. if you wanted to live like this but still work you’d be more than welcome to. the selling plasma thing is just a “basic income” anyone who doesn’t have a serious blood illness can get
Yeah, it sure doesn’t guarantee healthcare (you could still get medicaid of course) but this is really intended for people in their 20s and early 30s i.e. before serious health issues start becoming likely anyway. And again, anyone would be welcome to make as much money as they wanted, just like UBI. I personally would try to select straightforward guys who have a history of taking care of themselves and tend to be into hobbies that can easily be enjoyed with little more than a computer or a backyard. Also I’d definitely strive to only choose manlets. Not only do we take up less space, we eat less too. There’s no need for us to all agree on every political or philosophical issue. All we’d really have to do is be considerate enough to share a living space. Ideally we’d be friends but I believe that’s not entirely necessary so long as we can communicate problems as all roommates ought to. However, I know all too well that first impressions aren’t always what they seem to be and a situation like this is very likely to attract people who don’t have their shit together. Which brings me to my next point.
It’s a bit of a harsh truth, but I think there should be only one person on the lease so removing problem tenants who don’t follow the rules or don’t pay their dues can’t just hide behind the fact that they too are on the lease. Hopefully anyone who starts one of these NEEThouses would be as much of a philosopher king as me. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s any practical alternative to a rigid hierarchy, especially at first. So it’d be like a college dorm where the person on the lease is the “RA”, mostly functioning as an administrator but also creating new house rules. There’s an old saying: “Dictatorships don’t need politics.” The problem is finding a good dictator. In quarters this close, a “democracy” would inevitably lead to people backstabbing and ganging up on people. In a “dictatorship” the only move you got if you’re not already in charge is to leave (without getting your deposit back) and I guess pettily wreck the house. A rotating dictatorship and meritocracy have their own problems, more complex than I feel like typing out right now.
So, that’s about the gist of it. I’ve worked out all the budgeting and even a bulk grocery list of sufficiently nutritious foods (ideally anyone could live off the bulk food alone) so I know this is financially possible tomorrow if I suddenly found 11 other dudes willing to live like this. And yes, it really is that cheap here; google “6 bedroom house NC rent cost”. I’m not going to make a list of specific potential houses until I have other people who want in on this though. Yeah, you won’t be able to afford the new iphone, delivery pizza, dank weed, or even healthcare by joining a NEEThouse, but UBI never promised any of that. I think one of the best way to describe UBI to people is: “A system to eliminate the cost of mere, simple existence.” This system does that. The only thing it doesn’t do is pump more money into the economy by putting currency in the hands of wealth creators i.e. people who immediately spend that money by giving it to the wealthy, job/product creators.
tl;dr sell plasma and share bedrooms so working is effectively optional
I welcome all criticism and discussion. This can be a reality tomorrow!
Incels are often accused of being NEETs and vice-versa. In some corners of the net they are practically interchangeable generic insults. When all their criticisms about NEETdom have been refuted, the old insult of “lmao u dont get laid” is a favorite fallback of the working class. Putting aside how juvenile this is, it’s also factually incorrect.
Right off the bat, it’s completely socially acceptable for half the population to not work and even live with their parents indefinitely. I’d argue the ideal life outcome for most women is being a housewife. Even in 2019 it’s rare to see a woman shamed for not working. Moreover it’s trivial for most women to make a livable income simply by begging for it on social media or even dating apps. More to the point, the vast majority of women have no problem finding a date. Men don’t care what women do therefore work is not a prerequisite for half the population to find love. Women don’t even need to leave their house thanks to modern conveniences like tinder. And while women would prefer to wait til they have a steady income and/or partner before having children, all too often they are reliant upon welfare and child support, effectively using it as a form of (conditional) basic income. Their biological clocks (or state laws) won’t let them abort the fetus so finding a man with a job isn’t a priority.
However, finding a man with good genes is. I’m talking about the top 15% of heterosexual men or about 8% of the total population. These are the men who are considered so attractive, women disregard any long-term plans with them. They are the “alpha fux” of the “alpha fux beta bux” mating strategy. The slacker musicians, the degenerate drug dealers, the crustpunk vagabonds, and yes, even the trustfund hipsters. I personally have known more than one guy who had these same three defining characteristics: unemployed, good with women, and heroin junkie. Meanwhile, some of the hardest working (and richest) guys I know struggle with women. If you’re a NEET, you probably have a friend or two who never works yet is constantly drowning is pussy. Perhaps you are that guy. Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.
Lastly there are the gay men who make up about 2% of the overall population. While it’s typically more difficult for gays to find committed partners than straights, they certainly have no problem getting laid. When it comes to love and sex how you spend most of your day is irrelevant. Like women on heterosexual dating apps, any gay man can jump on a dating app in the morning and have a date that night.
For 60% of the population having a job is irrelevant with regards to dating prospects. That still leaves a sizable 40% though. These are the bottom ~81% of heterosexual men. These are the “beta bux” of the “alpha fux beta bux” mating strategy. Women view dating these men as transactional, hence requiring a couple dates to expensive restaurants before being willing to kiss them. Unfortunately, all this really means is that women are attracted to their money, not their mind and certainly not their genes. The unfortunate truth is most women only rate 15% of men as above average. The rest must provide monetary compensation, i.e. resources, in order to secure a mate. It’s a harsh reality but that is how it is in much of the animal kingdom and all of human history. Now that women are more independent than ever they have little incentive to settle for these less attractive men.
So does this mean 85% of men should give up on love? Of course not. But it does mean they need to wake up to the fact that you are not the contents of your wallet. Working destroys your chances at love more often than not, just ask any divorced couple. Love isn’t practical nor is it sacred. It’s a chemical reaction to induce reproduction coupled with having a high degree of personality compatibility. The only way people ever find love is doing exactly what they want all the time. Be a NEET and live your life how you please. If someone wants to come along for the ride, great. If not, at least you didn’t spend a third of your life doing something you hate for money.
To the untrained eye it might seem like NEETpride is the latest iteration of communism. UBI is notorious for having a similar PR problem. In both cases that perception couldn’t be more wrong.
NEETdom is only *possible* in a capitalist society. It requires capitalists to automate industry so NEETs can live comfortably without needing to work. It requires the elimination of the worker. Capitalism incentivizes that. Under a centrally planned economy, all citizens working is part of the social order. Keeping all those workers in line is what keeps the communist economy chugging along. Of course as we all know, consumption drives the capitalist economy. Those NEETs need to be buying stuff in order for capitalists to be incentivized to continue automation. Otherwise it all falls apart. That’s where UBI comes in.
Conversely, communism/socialism/whatever you call the economic and societal philosophy that’s diametrically opposed to capitalism hates NEETdom. Even right now in capitalist society NEETpride is socially acceptable so long as you’re rich. Not so under communism. Even those with enough social clout to not work still had to pretend they did. Communism glorifies work and the worker. That’s why you saw labor camps under communism. That’s why it was consumed with seizing the means of production. That’s why the main symbol of communism is a sickle and hammer. It’s “from each according to their ability”, not “from each according to whatever they feel like giving.”
That’s not to say capitalism is perfect. The very fact that we need economic band-aids like quantitative easing and basic income is proof of that. Nevertheless, a cornerstone of capitalist philosophy is that work should be voluntary. You give some of your time in exchange for some money. In practice it certainly doesn’t work like that. You’re going to have a hard time obtaining things that are human rights according to the UN, such as housing and internet access. It goes without saying that there is implicit coercion under capitalism. But it’s not explicit, and that is an improvement over the explicit coercion of communism.
Many proponents of capitalism conflate the communist lack of productivity with communists being given the freedom to not work. In reality communists were less productive because they were forced to do things they didn’t want to for the good of the state. That is not a sufficient incentive for most people. Because work was incentivized over productivity, they never got to the point where NEETdom was even possible, let alone socially acceptable. When money itself is glorified and not work, capitalists have the incentive to create systems that allow the rest of society to function without labor.
Basic income is “everybody gets a reward because not everybody can or needs to work.” Communism is “everybody is forced to work so everybody gets a reward.” At face value this might seem fair but it quickly leads to make-work junk-food jobs, which hurts not just individuals, but the economy itself. The fastest route to a fair and healthy society is allowing every single individual to pursue what they were interested in before someone else told them they had to slave away at some drudgery for the mere privilege of existing. NEETpride is the first step on the road to that world.
NEETdom for the poor is a relatively novel idea. There’s never been a point in history where the wealthy were forced to work, but only since the economic boom of the 1990s and Generation X’s glorification of “slacker culture” has NEETdom even been a visible option for the masses. What changed in society to cause this?
It might go without saying that the green revolution has been the greatest enabling factor for NEETdom. Regardless of how ethical you think they are, GMOs and factory farming have dramatically decreased both the number of people who need to work as well as the price of food. Anyone can buy 5 pounds of pure chicken breast for $10 and, unless you’re springing for organic, the cost of vegetables is almost neglible. This phenomenon is compounded with the rise of business models like that of Aldi, Walmart, and Costco, further reducing the amount of money necessary to feed oneself. These days, you mostly are paying for the packaging of brand name food or the ambience of restaurants rather than for the labor it costs to produce the goods you eat. Since ancient times one of the primary reasons given for why people must work is so everyone has enough food to eat. Since the 1980s that really hasn’t been an issue.
A more recent argument against not working is fear that the economy will collapse if everyone doesn’t work. As explained in this previous post, this is merely a misunderstanding of basic economics. Furthermore, the rise of the tech industry since the early 1990s has proven that a handful of people can create products that eliminate the *need* for people to work while simultaneously strengthening the economy. The word processor killed the secretary like Uber killed the taxi driver. Factory automation takes this phenomenon to the extreme, significantly reducing the need for humans to engage in manual labor. People are generally working less well-paying jobs these days due to this fact. Unlike 1990s slacker culture, adults entering the workforce now don’t have the option of working their way up the corporate ladder. After being told all our lives that minimum wage jobs without benefits are for losers, we figure we might as well just be “losers” who live off welfare or family. This is an extension of the welfare trap: why suffer in a job you hate if there’s a negligible change in not just wealth but also dignity? It’s not unlike the notorious welfare trap. Here’s a source for the following graph.
However despite more and more people dropping out of the workforce, corporate profits haven’t really slowed down since the 1980s. The Great Recession hit in 2008, but that was a result of too many loans being given out to people who didn’t have steady enough jobs to pay them off. This is still an issue today. The hot button issue of the 2016 presidential election, 8 years later, was still “jobs for the little guy.” Corporations are trying to bandaid this situation by adding a lot of junkfood jobs, but it’s leading to the same thing that happened when Japan tried this: a zombie economy. It’s no coincidence that the Japanese invented and began to develop NEET culture before us in America.
So it’s become practical to not work thanks to the green revolution and the tech industry. At the same time, the amount of shame that comes with not working is only slightly more than the amount of shame that comes with working the junkfood jobs which are accessible for most of us. There is one more part to this puzzle and that is feminism. Feminism, in addition to technological advancement, successfully destroyed the traditional female role. Left without work to occupy them thanks to advances in technology like the refrigerator or canned food or assembly lines which produced cheap replacements for items that once had to be mended, women were sold the male gender role by capitalists looking for workers and consumers both.
This made competition much harder for the majority of men as now we must not only compete against men in the workplace, but also women. Naturally this influx of workers, lowered the value of our labor. It also made women less dependent on men and made it harder for the bottom 90% of males to compensate for other intrinsically undesirable elements like an ugly face or short stature by offering to provide for a woman. In truth, this was the incentive to work for most men throughout human history. Merely to start a family men feel more pressure than ever to be a success in the capitalistic market. Thanks to automation and globalization there are fewer and fewer meaningful ways to do that. When faced with these overwhelming odds, we become NEETs.
There’s a complex interconnected spiderweb of reasons why NEETdom has been gaining popularity in recent years. The freedom of information allowed by the internet as well as the concurrent rise in popularity of UBI play no small role themselves. However, I think the four key reasons are technological advancement, the tech industry proving it’s possible to create immense economic value with few workers, the “welfare/dignity” trap, and the elimination of traditional gender roles. As for NEETpride? That right there is the final nail in the coffin of work.
NEETpride isn’t merely another way to thumb your nose at society and enjoy your freedom. NEETpride is absolutely necessary for the coming societal transition.
Looming mass unemployment is no big secret. Society seems pretty evenly divided into the 5 stages of grief, running the gamut from denial to anger to bargaining to depression to acceptance. Once the stage of acceptance is reached, the conclusion one inevitably comes to is that a universal basic income will be the best solution for this imminent problem. There is a lot of resistance to this idea from those stuck in the initial 4 stages of grief. “We’ve always been fine in the past!” “It’s not fair!” “It’ll never work so don’t even try!” “I don’t want the system to change!” However, the loudest complaint about UBI is the claim that most people will sit around and do nothing.
First of all, the evidence so far suggests that wouldn’t happen. Nevertheless it might. NEETpride is the revolutionary idea that this is okay. The majority of society not working is a positive thing that we should strive for. It can easily be argued that the fundamental goal for humanity throughout history is the dream of not working. Agriculture was easier than hunting and gathering which led to the creation of civilization. Industrial manufacturing was easier than artisans making all goods by hand which led to an unprecedented economic boom. Retrieving information from the internet was easier than retrieving it from physical books which led to an unprecedented educational boom. Workers struggled for the 40 hour work week a century ago. Workers today struggle to look busy for 40 hours per week so they don’t get fired for being redundant. As we eliminate jobs at an exponential rate, we create more humans at an exponential rate.
NEETpride is the idea that this is an inherently good thing. The only work people ought to concern themselves with is that which they want to do, that which they are willing to do for free. Particularly in our post-scarcity society, living is not and should not be a punishment. NEETs understand that and don’t participate in the system. NEETs also understand that before UBI is a viable political option, the public perception of work must change. No politician will vote for UBI if their constituents want jobs, even going against the wishes of their corporate donors to do so (because corporations want to automate everything). NEETpride is the first step on the path to making UBI a reality. It must be socially acceptable to not work before society will accept giving everyone the freedom to not work.
Furthermore, as described in the earlier post, NEETs are the most discriminated against group in not just America but the world. And thanks to automation of everything from truck driving to medical diagnosis, there’s about to be a whole lot more of us and not by choice. Instead of a society where there are two classes of people at odds with each other, NEETpride makes the case that not working is as socially acceptable a behavior as working. If we don’t start making this into reality now, we’re in for a tumultuous couple of decades. NEETpride is necessary to prevent that.
That is not because work is inherently good, it’s because your body is producing the endogenous opiate known as endorphins to counteract the bad feeling you’re experiencing. Well, it’s either that or the praise you receive from your social network for working. As explained in the NEETs and Depression post, we currently live in a society where work is revered above all else.
Work is healthy!
It’s true that some adults are incapable of living their lives without some sort of external force telling them what to do. It’s why people turn to religion. It’s why people buy self-help books. But not everyone is unhealthy by default. Most adults left to their own devices live peacefully and comfortably as they pursue whatever goals they set for themselves. Retired people are probably the closest you’ll find to an unbiased sample, although the argument could also easily be made for those born into wealth. Rich people who don’t have to work become job creators!
People will starve if you don’t work!
Hunger, like boredom and thirst, is an experience you need to voluntarily pursue in this day and age. The truth is we live in a post-scarcity world where we literally throw away a third of all food we produce. With factory farming, GMOs, and multivitamins there’s no reason for anyone to go hungry again. Access to food is a human right and that’s why every city in America is not only full of food banks, but people on food stamps.
Working is good for the economy!
Wrong. Consumption is good for the economy. Think about it this way: the economy does not improve in any way if you cut your lawn with scissors, despite it entailing a ton of work. The economy improves when you spend money on things. Maybe you get that money from cutting someone else’s lawn with scissors, maybe you get it from a UBI. It doesn’t matter. The point is that you’re spending and consuming, not that you’re working. That’s why advertising is such a massive industry today and we need government programs to help people find work. Furthermore, while job growth is often used as the metric for evaluating economic health, it’s flawed. Certain low-skill service-industry jobs are trivial to create but they don’t create much purchasing power for the employees. It looks good on paper but is detrimental in the long-term. These are known as “junkfood jobs”. The kind of work that does benefit the economy are the jobs that need to be done. Because they need to be done, the employees get paid higher wages thanks to the Law of Supply & Demand, and they in turn spend money consuming things in the economy.
You can’t just sit on your ass having fun all day!
Yes, you can. It’s only socially acceptable right now if you’re rich though. Children are who must obey authority figures before they get ice cream. Adults can eat ice cream for breakfast everyday if we feel like it because we have autonomy. Besides, everyone with a job does nothing but sit on their ass having fun after they are done with work. Take away their work and what do they have left in their lives? Fun. Us NEETs just don’t do the extra steps.
It’s not fair!
Unfortunately, life is not fair. The best we can do to make it fair is give everyone an unconditional basic income. With a UBI people always have the option to not work, giving them leverage when negotiating wages in the less desirable jobs. Rich people will still have better toys than poor people, but at least now the majority of us won’t have the constant threat of starvation and homelessness over our heads.
NEETpride 