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Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by arcanus on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @09:55AM (#12548155)
If only the USA had a similar program!
Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by freyir on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @10:21AM (#12548372)
We can't divert money away from the war machine.
Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by ptaipale on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @03:09PM (#12551263)
In Finland, the package was actually seen as a part of the war machine.

The package developed from assistance baskets delivered to low-income mothers by General Mannerheim's Child Protection Society after the Finnish civil war (1918), and became a government program in 1937 by offering the package to low-income mothers. The purpose was to increase birth rate and reduce infant mortality by drawing mothers to pre-natal care with the promise of free stuff.

It was expanded during the years of WW II and offered to all mothers starting 1947, at a time when the country was recovering from war and paying war reparations to USSR and everyone was really piss-poor, so poor it makes me want to cry. The country was under tremendous pressure from the Soviets and had to desperately assign all available resources to defence, food production and other essential items. Making parents feel that the government cares for them was important in the war years.

Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by KillerRAK on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @11:21AM (#12548988)
We can -- let's start with a population the size of Finland. The State of Colorado has about the same # of people -- a great place to start! Think critically before you toss out the old argument: The U.S. should do X, just like Y; where X is the socialist program of choice and Y is a Nordic Country of your choosing.
Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by scarmig on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @11:34AM (#12549134)
Not sure if that applies here.

There isn't anything particularly hard to administer about sending a one-time box to every parent who has a kid. It's not even collecting any new information--everything needed is recorded during birth registration. Even the potential for fraud is limited, because generating fraudulent SS numbers is much more lucrative than cardboard box resale, and we already have systems in place to limit that.

A county or state could easily implement this, with well-scoped resourcing requirements and little chance of cost overruns.

Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by rglovejoy on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @12:15PM (#12549544)
My worry about fraud isn't about the mothers, it's about the politicians and suppliers who would run this program. Too many pockets getting in the way.
Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by moogly on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @01:35PM (#12550398)
Well, your counter-argument is just as old.
Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by oblio on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @11:51AM (#12549302)
Ummm... isn't the US GDP per capita higher than Finland's?
Re:Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013) by freyir on Wednesday September 21, 2016 @08:11PM (#12553346)
And couldn't we exploit economies of scale?