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by chrisrogers 2140 days ago
Job loss is not the equivalent of death. Full stop.
2 comments

Tell that to a family where both parents are unemployed, they got 2-3 kids, a mortgage, a couple of maxed credit cards, they used to live paycheck-to-paycheck, one of the kids needs special care that the state doesn't provide due to budget cuts.

Now take this scenario to every major financial crisis (e.g. USA today, Latin America for the past couple of decades, some EU countries hit 20-30% unemployment a decade ago, and are still recovering).

It won't kill them instantly but consider what it does to them, if it turns them to crime, alcoholism, depression, and the general impact on the quality of life.

That’s an incredibly naive way of viewing things. Not everyone can afford losing their job. Let’s say job loss increases your chance of dying by 5% — not an exaggeration in some communities — 20 jobs lost is exactly the same as one death.

There's a very specific value of human life: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/835571843