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Kortina: Cultures linked dignity to work to build survival surpluses

Andrew Kortina · Andrew Kortina of Venmo and Fin on Technological Determinism and Work's Relationship to Dignity · Y Combinator · Nov 20, 2018 · at 2:43

Andrew Kortina, co-founder of Venmo and Fin, reflects on the historical and cultural origins of work ethic and human dignity.

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“Why would a culture connect dignity with the idea of work? And it's, I just think it's been a useful thing to do. If you live in a very uncertain world, Where there's things like, you know, a horde of locusts can take out the crops for the year, and then there's famine, right? Like, you want to incentivize people to be productive and create a surplus so you can kind of, like, endure those natural catastrophes.”

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