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Comment by mullen | Hacker News Reader

> And? People are remarkably good at finding something to do once they are bored.

I completely disagree. Bored directionless people, especially bored directionless men, are the worst thing a civilization can have. These are the guys that pick AK-47's and join terrorist organizations because they have no direction in their lives and they think they found it.

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Sure, if a terrorist organization is the only outfit nearby which offers an outlet promising deeper meaning or empowerment.

But if people are given more than the empty prospect of future penury and distress, wouldn't they find values of discovery and creativity to be much more appealing?

Who picks up an AK-47 and joins a terrorist organization just because they have nothing better to do? I think that sort of thing probably comes from a deeper malaise of the soul, and an environment devoid of hope is probably a big ingredient there.

They're dangerous if you don't have an efficient way to pacify them, which we thankfully do. In the modern developed world, they can pick up virtual AK-47s in Fortnite or join a League of Legends team instead, which is much less destabilizing.

Forget about terrorist organizations, we have a long history of examples where disaffected young men with few prospects drop out of productive society and chase the danger, excitement and potential riches of the drug trade.

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