Comment by antisthenes | Hacker News Reader

Comment by antisthenes | Hacker News Reader

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> The idea that someone is a permanent burden regardless of what they do is hard for me to wrap my head around

There are millions of such people, but it's not based on sex.

People from the bottom parts of intelligence distribution are a "burden", because no amount of labor they produce will generate more value for society than they consume (in food, housing, healthcare).

In developed countries we are able to collectively shoulder such a burden, because we do not live an a resource-scarce environment like you mentioned (when it comes to basic necessities)

> The idea that someone is a permanent burden regardless of what they do is hard for me to wrap my head around.

Don't get fixated on the "permanent" part of this. Some people can generate positive and negative value through different periods of their lives. Kids < 16 years of age are typically consumers of value. So are seniors of 80+ years.

This is not a bad thing, just a natural cycle of life.

Yes, that's true but like you say most societies try to socialize some of that burden. There seem to be no such socialization in this case.

> Some people can generate positive and negative value through different periods of their lives. Kids < 16 years of age are typically consumers of value. So are seniors of 80+ years

I understand that, which is why I specified "permanent". In this case, women are permanent burdens regardless of how old they are. That's the fucked up bit.

Actually, archeological evidence shows that even in extremely harsh environments, many early humans took care of people who were unable to work.

From the article linked below:

"...an idea of what it must have taken to keep Burial 9 alive. Paralyzed from the waist down and with severely limited arm and neck movement, he depended on others to provide food and water, clean him and move him to prevent pressure sores. 'From the bones alone, we can say this person lived with a disease that required help from others to survive,'...

The people who took care of Burial 9, for example, scratched out a precarious existence using stone tools to fish and raise pigs in prehistoric Vietnam. Signs of malnutrition in the bones of people buried nearby suggested famine was a constant threat. 'In a small society which was very stressed, that means somebody who couldn't contribute or go out hunting or undertake a lot of tasks was supported, accommodated, and adjusted to,'"

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/17/8788963...

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