Universal Basic Income

[videogamesrock]

I suspect it will become necessary at some future time. There simply won't be enough unskilled work that pays a living wage.

I think it is immoral to let our fellow citizens live in poverty.

Living in poverty is a choice. In the USA you can be as poor or as wealthy as you choose, nobody takes that away from you. I look at my parents, they still live in poverty to this day and have their entire lives. They continue to make poor decisions over and over again which keeps them poor. Also they are rewarded for being poor. Every month their church or family gives them money. They come up with some sob story about what happened and people give them money. They have become dependant on handouts. I personally hated growing up poor, and I did everything I could to get as far away from it as possible. I made the conscious choice to put all of my effort into getting away from a life in poverty. Everything I have achieved was done on my own and I never had handouts to help me. You can become anything you want to be as long as you put your mind to it. What gets rewarded gets repeated and I see this with poor people. The best thing you can do to a poor person is to stop giving them food and money. They then learn much quicker how to take care of themselves. I always laugh when I go to a park and it says don't feed the animals as they become dependent on humans for food, the same happens with people. If someone chooses to be poor let them, but don't take money away from people who choose not to be poor to reward the same dumb decisions that poor people make.

[rebel100]

Why would he make such a ridiculous comment then?

Because I found it funny. And as mentioned....I didn't voice the thought. There is something attractive about sitting on my ass and having access to Zucks money to treat my whim. That's what we're talking about right? Of course in the Bern world you guys sit around curing cancer and breaking down walls.

Your concept is not born out by history....I don't see it happening in my lifetime and if it dies the stupid experiment would be over in a generation or two (see the former Soviet Union).

[rebel100]

Living in poverty is a choice. In the USA you can be as poor or as wealthy as you choose, nobody takes that away from you. I look at my parents, they still live in poverty to this day and have their entire lives. They continue to make poor decisions over and over again which keeps them poor. Also they are rewarded for being poor. Every month their church or family gives them money. They come up with some sob story about what happened and people give them money. They have become dependant on handouts. I personally hated growing up poor, and I did everything I could to get as far away from it as possible. I made the conscious choice to put all of my effort into getting away from a life in poverty. Everything I have achieved was done on my own and I never had handouts to help me. You can become anything you want to be as long as you put your mind to it. What gets rewarded gets repeated and I see this with poor people. The best thing you can do to a poor person is to stop giving them food and money. They then learn much quicker how to take care of themselves. I always laugh when I go to a park and it says don't feed the animals as they become dependent on humans for food, the same happens with people. If someone chooses to be poor let them, but don't take money away from people who choose not to be poor to reward the same dumb decisions that poor people make.

Those who can't will always accuse you of unfair advantage. Ignore them and live a beautiful life.

We already have parity of opportunity, when some still can't find success they whine.

[jsd]

Living in poverty is a choice.

Hilarious that people actually believe this in 2017. But I guess not everyone can be in touch with normal Americans

[sarg123]

Living in poverty is a choice. In the USA you can be as poor or as wealthy as you choose, nobody takes that away from you. I look at my parents, they still live in poverty to this day and have their entire lives. They continue to make poor decisions over and over again which keeps them poor. Also they are rewarded for being poor. Every month their church or family gives them money. They come up with some sob story about what happened and people give them money. They have become dependant on handouts. I personally hated growing up poor, and I did everything I could to get as far away from it as possible. I made the conscious choice to put all of my effort into getting away from a life in poverty. Everything I have achieved was done on my own and I never had handouts to help me. You can become anything you want to be as long as you put your mind to it. What gets rewarded gets repeated and I see this with poor people. The best thing you can do to a poor person is to stop giving them food and money. They then learn much quicker how to take care of themselves. I always laugh when I go to a park and it says don't feed the animals as they become dependent on humans for food, the same happens with people. If someone chooses to be poor let them, but don't take money away from people who choose not to be poor to reward the same dumb decisions that poor people make.

It almost seems silly to create a post just to say that I agree, but your post was so on target that I couldn't resist! I agree!

But, only up to a point. I think that there has to be some kind of safety net... you can't let people starve. I don't know how to create the right balance - and I'm glad that's not my job!

[videogamesrock]

Hilarious that people actually believe this in 2017. But I guess not everyone can be in touch with normal Americans

You did read that I came from poverty right?

[davewill]

Living in poverty is a choice. In the USA you can be as poor or as wealthy as you choose, nobody takes that away from you. ....

Utter and complete drivel.

You did read that I came from poverty right?

Doesn't mean you aren't out of touch.

[jsd]

You did read that I came from poverty right?

Yes, I read your post.

[icampy]

I worked at a grocery store when I was 16 and 17. It was in a rougher/poorer part of town . I learned everything I needed about welfare and poverty at that job, and it left me bitter and prejudiced for years afterwards. You would not believe how well a huge amount of people on welfare ate doing. I saw more new Cadillacs and Lincoln's driven by people on food stamps than I have from any other group, including upper middle class areas. I saw ebt cards being passed around to other friends and family members, being sold for cash, taking home boxes full of steaks (they had a good butcher), etc. It was eye opening. I grew up in a low middle class household, and I had never seen that kind of stuff.

Side note, while I was making some life decisions about my career and possibly moving across the country, I spent awhile working at a prison. I took home about 80k for annual pay. I lived 100 miles away, worked my ass off doing 70 hour work weeks (And drove 3 hours a day, every day, on top of the long days), slept 4 to 5 hours a night. All they required to be hired was a clean record, be 18, and that's about it. It's not a cushy office dream job, not glamorous , but you can get hired immediately, work a ton, and pay your bills. They're always hiring. No excuse for a healthy male to sit and bitch, while unemployed, when he could grow a set and go find a job at a prison . Who knows, you might like it. Tired of seeing lazy-ass "men" talking handouts instead of working, because they can't find a job. Bullshit, there are jobs, man up and take them. Oil field , prisons, join the military if single, etc. Lots of 50 to 100k jobs our there for the taking if you man up and get your hands dirty.

[StoicJ]

Every single one of my friends (and their children) and every one of my family members can always come to me for meals whenever they need it. We don't make much money but we always have food. If one of them needed a place to stay for a while, I wouldn't open up my home to all of them, but I have good camping equipment and extension cords and water. If they wanted they could come stay in my backyard for a good while, if they found themselves in a bad situation. NONE of them need starve or go without shelter. I think that arrangement, as bad as people in this spoiled nation think it is, would be a huge step up for a ridiculous number of men and women on this planet.

If you believe it's a man's duty to help out his brothers in need, shifting the "burden" to the State only makes things worse. The bonds between individuals weakens. Courtesy fades. Loyalty isn't necessary. You can be an ass, and still fall back on the State. You're entitled! It can be a conscious decision, but usually it's not. And you can pretend it is virtuous to support these types of State programs, but there is NO virtue in aggression against good people. Charity is too important to be left to government.

And if in your world you don't SEE the tremendous generosity and compassion people CAN show, you seriously need to expand your sphere of contacts.

P.S. You can buy what I'm saying. Or not. I've got a Corporate Finance exam to study for