The Mindset That Gets Everyone Killed in The End
The free-rider problem.
I didn't want to write this post, but it's been on my mind for weeks now. There's a certain mindset out there, and it's getting worse. It has a direct impact on how we're going to make it through the next few years, much less the next decade or the rest of the century.
Take a look:
That's someone who downloaded my illustrated survival guide, who took several minutes to explain why they didn't even owe me a single like for all the work that went into it, not to mention all the support from readers and organizations like AKET who see the value in this project. They believe they don't owe anyone anything, no matter how much they take.
It's an interesting thing to explain to someone how grateful you are for what they contribute, while simultaneously refusing to give anything back, based on their own personal grievances. My guide isn't getting 1-3 views per month. It's getting tens of thousands of views per month.
I get messages like this every week.
I've encountered this idea quite a lot over the last year. I've even noticed writers like Jared Yates Sexton comment on it when readers send him cute little messages talking about how much they love his work, but they're canceling their subscription anyway because, well, he chooses to put his work out there for free. So why should they pay for it?
There's something going on here, and sociologists have studied it. They call it the "free rider problem." It's not the same thing as the imaginary government free-loader that MAGA Republicans scream about all day long. It's a documented phenomenon. When you make a resource free, then eventually a vast majority of the public comes to take it for granted.
Why...?
There's a famous study on this trend, known as the Andreoni Experiment. One of the world's leading behavioral economists, James Andreoni, found that most people are actually altruistic, but they learn selfishness over time. He set up a series of games to show how it happens.
During round one of Andreoni's game, most people willingly pool their money to support a public good. There's only a few free riders starting out. But over the course of ten rounds, this majority gradually grows resentful of the freeloaders and withdraws their support. So by the end, almost everyone stops contributing. They all decide to free ride, out of spite.
You know what happens to the public resource?
It evaporates.
Andreoni found something else interesting. At least in his experiment, you can stop the behavior and wipe the slate clean by starting a completely new game. What he showed: People generally want to be altruistic. They withdraw out of frustration, out of a need to punish the free riders. It's not about money. It's not about selfishness. It's pure spite. But that strategy only results in creating more free-riders. It destroys the public good.
So, I think that explains what's going on. Unfortunately, this behavior doesn't help anyone. It's not just one person's random comment online. It's an entire ravine in public psychology. It depletes public goods. It destroys the very communities we need to survive the collapse we're living through now.
So, I'm not going to belabor the point. You see what I'm getting at. What I will do: I'll say thank you to AKET for supporting the work I'm doing. I'll say thank you to everyone who keeps offering support without falling prey to all the strange glitches in the human mind and group dynamics. I'll promise you that I'm working all the time to earn this support. Without it, I would still find a way to do it all, but it wouldn't be nearly as good.
When you support this work, you aren't just supporting me. You're helping to put a guide out there that has already saved lives.
It's going to save more.
I've felt a little bad about starting a second edition so soon after the first. On the other hand, the first edition is good--and we live in a precarious world. The first edition will help everyone here and now. If AI bots shut down all the supermarkets next week, then you've got a good guide in your hands. The second edition is going to be even better. It's a public good, offered free online, printed at cost. I'm not updating it or releasing editions based on anything other than my own pace, my own ability to research and gain new knowledge. It made no sense to sit on the first edition. It made sense to release it, as a hedge.
If you want to fund the second edition, here's the link:
What am I going to do?
Well, I can't stop writing. I can't stop researching. I'm not going to give in to the psychology of the free-rider problem. I'm driven by a deep sense of what I owe the world and what I can give it. That's all.
Take care,
Jessica
