[pc86]

> Our system is broken

Citation needed.

> humanity needs a way to encourage success without punishing failure

Serious question - why? You state this as an objective fact with no argument for it.

> Failure [shouldn't] be hunger and homelessness

If you're smart about it, it isn't. What's wrong with saying "yes you should probably have savings to fall back on in case this doesn't work out?" What's wrong with saying "if you throw caution and all reasonableness to the wind and blow your life's savings trying to sell Amway products, your neighbor isn't going to be burdened with paying your bills while you look for another job?"

[nscalf]

I think people are too quick to discount the importance of failure and feeling bad. If failing has no consequence, there will be far less motivation. However, in my opinion, this is a balance. Failure has to be sufficiently painful, but no more than that.

From the research I’ve done, two major items have made failure too painful: stagnant wages and rapidly inflating rent prices. People can no longer hold onto savings in case something doesn’t work because they barely make ends meet. Our system is inherently broken. We need unions, raises in minimum wage, worker strikes, etc. This is not going to be a generation of people going through economic hardship just because of the economy, but also because we are no longer willing to fight for each other.

[frockington1]

How would unions help anything? Modern examples (such as teachers unions) seem to reward mediocrity and encourage paying into failing pensions

[hdctambien]

If unions were the cause of "mediocrity" then there should be better teaching in states that don't have teacher unions right?

Ranking of states without unions (2011) https://www.businessinsider.com/states-where-teachers-unions...

Wisconsin after unions were removed (2017) https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/17/news/economy/wisconsin-act-...

[pc86]

How does unionization depress rising rent?

[charlesu]

> If you're smart about it, it isn't.

Citation needed.

Whether you have something to fall back on in the event of failure has a lot to do with where and whom you're born to. It's pretty difficult to have a fall back option as a kid from a poor coal mining town with 20% unemployment. If you move out west with no network and lose your job soon after, yes, you can find yourself hungry and homeless in short order.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, many of us are just one bout of extended unemployment or illness away from homelessness.

[swiley]

You don’t have savings just after graduation.

Also: thinking about these people helps the rest of us, the economy is extremely fragile because most people aren’t able to save (high rent+low wages) and have limited mobility.

I used to think all the SWEs getting paid well would make the world a better place because they were more capable of dealing with complex problems but comments like this make me question that.

[rsk67]

This might be the most HN on-brand comment I've ever seen