[dsfyu404ed]

>So you get these people who make minimum wage, they aren't really living substantially better than those who don't work,

Supporting yourself (by basically selling your labor) instead of relying on the government is worth something (non-tangible value, obviously) to a lot of people (though I suspect there are few of those people on HN). It makes you feel good (less bad) about your situation and frankly having your existence be dependent on some entity you have nearly zero control over sucks and is stressful.

Obviously on some level it comes down to personal preference but clearly a large subset of the population feels that minimum wage or nearly minimum wage jobs are a good enough deal relative to government benefits that they do them.

The people who I'd personally want to hire are the one's who are gaming the system by getting benefits and working under the table or having a side gig because they clearly know how to optimize for a given set of constraints. Unfortunately those are the ones that aren't in the job market.

[glenneroo]

I think you should indicate somehow that you've edited your comment (e.g. customary "EDIT" following your original comment), granted in your case, you changed your original comment entirely (after the apparent backlash at your disagreement with GP's comment), which is IMO somewhat disingenuous.

[dsfyu404ed]

I added two paragraphs. I didn't feel saying it was edited was warranted since it was an expansion rather than a change of meaning.

Also I agree with the GP comment, I was just expanding on the point about the people who aren't working and don't want to. I thought it was worth noting that that is not something many people can rationalize.

[icebraining]

> having your existence be dependent on some entity you have nearly zero control over sucks and is stressful.

Like your employer? Yes, it does suck, but there aren't enough well-paid freelance gigs.

[quaquaqua1]

This can be done with a hobby.

There is no reason to crucify ourselves in a stupid job if we could make the same amount of money with more freedom and less effort elsewhere.

[0027]

I'd bet everyone that plays the lottery, gambles, or wants a 4hr work week feels otherwise.

[asark]

Working for a petty autocratic bureaucracy is so inherently and intensely fulfilling, it's no surprise that so many rich people do it, even though they don't need to. /s