It should hardly need pointing out that our leaders are not benevolent and kind people who want the best for us. They definitely want us to believe this but it pretty obviously isn’t the case. They can be quite ruthless when they feel threatened and as recent events show, don’t have much regard for the laws and traditions that have shaped the nation.
Something I have wondered even from pleasanter times was why a growing sub-population of ne’er-do-wells are allowed to thrive in our society? I am speaking generally of Australia but there is crossover for other Western nations. Some might immediately balk at a basic income and housing being described as “thriving” but to many this is more than enough and they certainly aren’t motivated to work for more. This group includes a large native-born subclass in multi-generational welfare dependency as well as foreign groups who gladly take to this lifestyle on arrival as it is still significantly better than what they left.
The conclusion I had originally come to was that there is simply a lack of will to do anything about this as well as an entrenched bureaucracy (itself something of a ne’er-do-well class), that puts obstacles to any attempt at reform. When you think about it, most of the vagrancy, drug abuse and welfare dependency could be dealt with quite quickly with a few changes. Examples that have been proposed and have existed are putting a limit on how long welfare is offered to prevent dependence. Making payments dependent on the receiver not using illicit substances. Increased policing and enforcement of existing laws or passing new ones where necessary. These things combined would largely reduce (though of course never entirely remove), much of the problems caused by this class. Many of them would turn to crime which would still sort them out in short order but I suspect many would go and work for a living. This would certainly be opposed by the media and upper classes who have immunised their own communities and livelihoods from this problem but I’m confident this would have significant popular support.
I do still believe there is a lack of will to do anything about this but there is something more significant going on. I got an idea of this in thinking about the way technology has penetrated most of the population and the increasing restrictions and simplifications of this technology for the end user. I often have to deal with difficulties people are having with technology whether it be a washing machine or a personal computer. This is not my profession but it is something I often have to deal with and I’d say I’m better than the average person and solving these problems simply because I am asked for help far more that I find myself asking.
Over time, computers in particular have become more and more locked down to prevent users making errors. Increasingly these companies want you to go through storefronts to download programs, block your access to certain folders or system files and so on all to avoid issues generally caused by users themselves. They want more users and they don’t necessarily mind that their users aren’t capable of using their platforms properly. These restrictions are put in place at the expense of advanced users who have to go to greater lengths or more expense to have more control over how they use it.
I believe at some level that the government is doing something similar with the unproductive classes. The growth of a parasitic subclass certainly costs the government a lot of taxpayer’s money (and no shortage of resentment), but it is worth it to them. It is worth it because they can use the problems that arise out of the existence of this subclass to exert more power over all of us. The increasing inability of this class to adhere to the most basic expectations of a civil society enables the government to continue to add layers of control ostensibly to prevent things such as fraud, delinquency and many other crimes. This makes the lives of those who follow the rules increasingly difficult as a result but doesn’t much faze the subclass because they simply don’t mind as long as they get what they feel they are owed.
The upper crusts of society are unaffected as they can simply pay someone to deal with these issues or if high enough, be able to avoid having to deal with them at all. They are rarely if ever are put in the dangers they have brought on the rest of the population and happy to hypocritically admonish anyone they encounter that complains about the problems this class causes.
So the parasitical elements of the lower class are very worth the expense to the ruling elite as the problems they cause only ever increase their power. Much like Big Tech’s large and growing userbase justifies the draconian system controls they increasingly enforce on their platforms. Dealing with these problems in society in any meaningful way would make many of the laws and much of the bureaucracy redundant and that can’t be allowed to happen.