A Boring Dystopia

14429 readers

389 users here now

Pictures, Videos, Articles showing just how boring it is to live in a dystopic society, or with signs of a dystopic society.

Rules (Subject to Change)

--Be a Decent Human Being

--Posting news articles: include the source name and exact title from article in your post title

--If a picture is just a screenshot of an article, link the article

--If a video's content isn't clear from title, write a short summary so people know what it's about.

--Posts must have something to do with the topic

--Zero tolerance for Racism/Sexism/Ableism/etc.

--No NSFW content

--Abide by the rules of lemmy.world

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

givesomefucks@lemmy.world

1264

Just work a little harder (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by zedgeist@lemmy.world to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world

81 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] friendlymessage@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

If you are on welfare (Bürgergeld or Sozialhilfe) all costs in Germany are covered by the state that are deemed necessary for a dignified life. Several governments over the years repeatedly tried to cut benefits below that but were stopped by our constitutional court, referencing the first article of our constitution:

(1) Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar. Sie zu achten und zu schützen ist Verpflichtung aller staatlichen Gewalt.

(1) Human dignity is inviolable. To respect and protect it is the duty of all state authority

It's not a perfect system and many fall through the cracks because like everything in Germany, the welfare system is highly bureaucratic. But yes, basic necessities including tap water are covered. To be honest, I don't get that this is so mind-blowing to some, I think that's the bare minimum.

It also comes with a lot of cooperation duties: if you are capable of working, you must accept job offers that are deemed reasonable or you might be sanctioned. If you are incapable of working (e.g. because you're a single parent or disabled) you need to provide proof. It's not a universal basic income, it's meant as support to get people back into the job market.

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 week ago

I had misinterpreted and thought they meant tap water was free for everyone in Germany, which is what sounded weird to me.

It makes sense that you can get utility assistance if you're on welfare. Even the US has hardship programs or charities that will pay for utilities, its just usually limited availbe slots restricted to the homeless, families with kids, or its a church membership benefit.