Can there be a case made for staying on welfare to dedicate time

>>9049832
Polite bump for my cretinous question

>>9049832
I mean JK Rowling did it

>>9049832

I've been wondering a similar, but more extreme question, OP. Is it ethical for one to stay indefinitely on welfare, if living modestly, still being active and healthy (eg, no 600 lb), and while contributing in myriad other ways (art, social gestures, not clogging traffic, blogs, etc)? How much labor must be saved by machines (and wageslaves overseas...) until we allow ourselves to make strides in other directions than base efficiency?
For the record, I've never taken gov't assistance; just hypothetical.

If anyone finds out you're on welfare you'll become a social pariah. You won't have any money to do anything socially anyway. Most of your time will be spent in anxiety and depression just looking forward to your check. You'll have to live in a shitty little apartment in a shitty neighbourhood where youll be afraid of getting stabbed every time you go outside. You won't have a car. I did the welfare thing for ten years and finished two novels. I wish I had just worked and wrote after work. As a writer you need stimulation and you get that by interacting with people and doing things, which you can't do when you're broke and living stigma.

>>9049832
you write good literature the way you succeed in any other occupation. By working hard.

>>9049967
To play devils advocate, who's to say you can't work hard at writing while on welfare? Especially if you have access to the internet, which is a portal to the compiled information of humanities progress. if you have the motivation and will, what's there to stop you? all you're doing is freeing up time

>>9049998
the point is, once you start receiving welfare, do you really feel the need to work hard at writing anything? I don't know because i'm a STEMfag so if there's a NEET out there please answer my query

>>9050005
Well yeah, who wants to stay on shitty welfare? i doubt you'd lose the intention to work toward your goal that quickly just because you're making enough to feed yourself

>>9050046
i dunno, there must be neets out there perfectly satisfied with the welfare lifestyle..

some might even be shitposting here

>>9049832
Yes. Im planning on doing it too in fact.

>Day off work
>Can't even make myself clean for half an hour and just waste the day away
>Day after work
>Cook, clean, read and socialise in the few hours I have

What I'm saying is in my case having slightly less time for myself every day makes me use that time better. You also need to live in order to write and have experiences. If anything I'd just work a bit less, but most people have enough time to write and work. Write/read on your time off, especially weekends, listen to audiobooks if possible during work or transit.

>>9050005
>>9050058

There is NEETs that only wish to have enough money to survive and not work, yes. But you don't become one just because you decide to pursue a different career that involves spending a lot of time at home.

NEETs go from not wanting to do anything and having no money, to being able to just survive when they get money. Someone who quits their job in order to write has a goal and the money just helps them keep afloat while they work on it. Completely different situation.

In my country the basic unemployment benefit gives about as much money as a normal person pays in taxes. You are literally making that persons contributions to society wasted. If you walked up to a stranger and said do you want to give me 20-40% of everything you earn so I don't have to work they would say go fuck yourself. Choosing to go on the benefit just because you don't want to work is exactly the same as that, except that you never have to have that conversation.

Sure it gives you more time to write, but that doesn't justify intentionally making society worse so you can do it especially since many great writers worked and wrote before they could live on their writings.

>>9049832

I may be a pessimist, but at this point I'd say it's not worth it unless you're planning to live off welfare for decades.
Writing great literature is 1% talent and 99% hard work, and for hard work I mean actual, forma, academic training (that in most cases starts when you're 10). A few writers managed to become great in spite of their starting late, but it was always after a colossal effort in order to overcome their ignorance and lack of sophistication.

If you want to read what does it take to become a great writer read Vita Scritto da Esso by Vittorio Alfieri (dunno about the translated title).
Vittorio Alfieri is usually recognized as the greatest Italian tragedist in history, and he went on a path that was very similar to yours. In his 20s he realized that he wasted most of his life: all of his attitudes drove him to literature, but he was to ignorant to go on that road.
To remedy is monumental waste of time he socially isolated himself for years, building the classical culture that he so much needed, learning Latin, Greek, French and classical italian (and their respective literary and theatrical traditions) at a accademical level. Those years are described in great detail, and to be honest they really helped me forming my discipline to make out for a wasted teenagehood. Given your current situation it can only be inspiring and insightful.

You can still do it, but it will be hard. That book shows you how hard will it be.

>>9051514

OP here. I'm not personally planning to do it this way, but thank you for your post. It was fantastic. I've started reading your reference and it's fascinating. Thank you.

>>9050071

From my experience, this has been profoundly true and only ever damningly more so. I think of Beckett's

>"When everything conspires to make the thing impossible [...] it is then that things get done."

More productive now than I ever was when I had whole days with nothing to do

>>9051514
I agree that hard work is essential but learning Latin/Greek and reading all of the western canon is hardly necessary to be a good writer in this day and age.

If I were OP I'd start saving as much money as possible, living frugally, and when you have enough savings, transition to part time employment, picking a schedule that favors productivity. Also try to optimize your lifestyle to favor productivity, like diet (high fiber/fat, decent protein, low-ish carbs. Lots of fermented foods (homemade kefir, sauerkraut, pickles), cut out processed foods and sugar completely. For protein mostly fish and dairy, little red meat. Favor of the quality of the products), exercise (daily mixture of high and low intensity cardio, the ratio depends on your personal makeup, stretching and some occasional (2-3 times a week) heavy lifting and yoga), daily meditation(15-30 minutes) and good sleep hygiene (dust, noise and light free environment, just enough sleep to be rested, too much also lowers energy, consider polyphasic sleep to minimize sleep duration while staying rested, an Everyman variant can work for most schedules)