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Re:Why we should all have a basic income by ridgeguy on Sunday January 22, 2017 @08:41PM (#13459018)
"The few who do look into self-improvement are the same ones that have done it regardless of the economic condition of the lower class of their time..."

Citation needed. Otherwise, it's not even anecdata. If your perspective from "...a small third world welfare state..." is to be informative, please expand and explain.

Re:Why we should all have a basic income by mixedCase on Sunday January 22, 2017 @09:27PM (#13459230)
> Otherwise, it's not even anecdata

While it's no comprehensive study, it is very much anecdata, for it's how my parents, parts of my family and plenty of people I know have managed to climb out of poverty of all degrees before there was a welfare system. Hunger and work did not deter them. The word "mutante" (mutant) is often used to describe this kind of people, for how they decide to break the norm despite the environment.

Growing up in a poor/lower middle-class neighborhood I haven't seen this change for the better with the welfare system. But I have seen people quitting their jobs to qualify for welfare.

As I mentioned in another comment, I'm not opposed to a well-designed social safety net for those who can't get back into the workforce nor train themselves to do so, but rest assured, UBI or anything that allows people who are perfectly capable of working, the possibility to leech off the welfare system (read: their fellow citizens) permanently without giving back, is nothing short of a disgrace for society.

Re:Why we should all have a basic income by ridgeguy on Sunday January 22, 2017 @11:44PM (#13459827)
Thank you for expanding on your post.