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A comment on Trends that will create demand for an Unconditional Basic Income. Parent comment

Re:Trends that will create demand for an Unconditional Basic... by dragonwriter on Friday July 12, 2013 @10:49AM (#6032877)
> In fact, the existing Earned Income Tax Credit is already much like a basic income for a certain segment of the population.

It is impossible for something to be for a certain segment (defined in large part by income) of the population and for it also to be meaningfully like Basic Income.

EITC is a fairly standard limited-eligibility social welfare program, which is what BI is offered in opposition to.

> One often needs a revolution to make a constitutional amendment. I don't think we want to go there.

I don't think the facts justify that that is often the case, unless you mean "revolution" in some very loose sense that doesn't justify the "I don't think we want to go there" comment.

I mean, there are 17 amendments to the Constitution that weren't passed fairly contemporaneously with the original document: can you point to the "revolutions" which were necessary for these?

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Re:Trends that will create demand for an Unconditional Basic... by dllthomas on Friday July 12, 2013 @11:13AM (#6033003)
You could say the Civil War was a revolution necessary for the passage of the thirteenth amendment (and potentially the 14th and 15th).

Maybe the rise of organized crime under prohibition could be considered a revolution prompting the 21st amendment, but that seems quite a bit of a stretch...

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