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I may have been too generous. By an order of magnitude. The US has 320 million people living in it. $1000/month * 320 million is $3.8 trillion/year. That, wei
by vinceguidry 11y ago
I may have been too generous. By an order of magnitude.
The US has 320 million people living in it. $1000/month * 320 million is $3.8 trillion/year.
That, weirdly enough, is the size of the entire US budget for 2016.
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-republicans-pass-3-8-trillion-dollars-2016-budget-760837 http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-republicans-pass-3-8-trill...
- mikeash 11y agoYou'd want to look at state budgets too, since a lot of social programs happen there. Basic income is supposed to replace social security, unemployment, food stamps, and more. That's not a huge change to the number, but it's decent. There's no doubt taxes would need to increase to fund such a program, of course.
- vinceguidry 11y ago> There's no doubt taxes would need to increase to fund such a program, of course. Who would pay them?
- mikeash 11y agoWorkers? It's not like everybody would stop working. The number of people content with $1,000/month is going to be pretty low.
- vinceguidry 11y agoI fail to see how that could possibly fly, politically. Everybody who works has to pay for everybody who doesn't want to work to just fuck around.
- mikeash 11y agoIt's not qualitatively different than what we have now.
- ashark 11y agoAlso, everyone gets the checks. Some workers' parents will be living off them. Their kids in college. Their cousin who was crippled in a car wreck. It's not like they won't know people benefiting who aren't exactly lazy freeloaders.
- eanzenberg 11y agoThe magnitude is different, and you shouldn't be ignorant to that detail.
- vinceguidry 11y agoDoesn't answer the question. Politics doesn't truck to reason.