As I said in the previous post, I think I broadly agree with geohot's hypothesis. But I think understanding the motivation behind this kind of behavior is more complex than simply pointing a finger at the "unproductive."
Looking at what's closest to my own reality: I haven't just been around "unproductive" people from the lower class — I was one of them, a 20-year-old lower-class unproductive. And I felt horrible about it. I accidentally let my mental health dictate the shape of my life, but I managed to recover. I know people who didn't. For the sake of brevity, I'll call them UNRs (Unrecovered Unproductives). I don't necessarily attribute malice to this class of unproductive, because it's so random — you could be fated for a tragedy to hit your life today and become a UNR tomorrow.
The other class of unproductive, what I'll call "upper-class unproductives," is the one I think geohot is really talking about. These are people born with silver spoons, with every privilege and opportunity money can buy. And even so, they produce nothing of value — parasites living off the labor of others. And the worst part: they don't feel bad about it. On the contrary, they feel superior. They believe they deserve everything they have because of the circumstances of their birth. They are willing to tear down the order of a nation for their own benefit. Yes, you know who I'm talking about.
But there's also the upper-class unproductives who are just... content? They'd rather ride the wave than actually produce something of value. And I think it's hypocritical to say they're also the problem, given that they are the categorical imperative of a system that values capital over merit. Everyone dreams of the "public sector job" where you can't be fired, or the "unexpected inheritance" that suddenly not only solves all your financial problems but lets you simply exist without needing to produce anything.
So — are the "unproductives" really the anchor dragging down the development of healthy, equitable societies? Or is it the maldistribution of power and resources that creates the true "unproductives"? When we say "unproductives," do we actually mean "sociopaths" — people who know they're not productive and simply don't care?
I don't know. But it's something to think about.