Re:Time for a Guaranteed Basic Income?
by themartorana on Saturday January 23, 2016 @02:08PM
(#10959549)
But we already have that permanent poor class, vanishingly few of whom escape it, and they're actually getting poorer as time goes on.
I see UBI as the best plan by far I've heard to address homelessness and poverty and education and hunger with a single solution. No it's not perfect, but for as little as working provides poor people now, what incentive do they have now that they'd lose later besides those below basic human dignity (like eating)?
To your point about politicians mucking with BI on the regular, I concur that is a real concern to proper execution.
Re:Time for a Guaranteed Basic Income?
by icebraining on Saturday January 23, 2016 @02:28PM
(#10959654)
Some of us just aren't so sure that we know better than poor people and should decide what's best for them. If they want to dedicate their lives to "unproductive" activities, so what? What makes your job so important, anyway? Mine certainly isn't world-changing, despite earning me a better-than-average salary.
Re:Time for a Guaranteed Basic Income?
by overgard on Saturday January 23, 2016 @06:45PM
(#10960682)
Do you think we'd have less homeless people if the incentives for not being homeless were made stronger? "The beatings will continue until morale improves". You make it sound like people choose to be poor because it's awesome. You know what? Poor people already have plenty of incentives not to be poor, nobody wants to be in that boat.
Incentive to work would more like incentive to receive even more benefits for other items. The problem is politicians, suddenly there will be all sorts of new exceptions to your BI "because". Then we are back to square one.
I see most BI suggestions as rationalization for giving up. Face it, there are a lot of people who would be and even some who are living at a level none of us can fathom. Do we really want to legislate an permanent poor class of people, one where there is likely more incentive to not leave it?
Finally how do you plan to prevent self destructive and generally harmful activities some will engage in. There are countless stories of generational incompetence, from high frequency of out of wedlock children if not even out of school, to not even finishing school? How can we incentivize good behavior, good for self and society?