4 ms·

There's no way you'd be able to get rid of them all. What happens when people spend their entire income on lottery tickets? You can't let them starve, you'd ne

There's no way you'd be able to get rid of them all. What happens when people spend their entire income on lottery tickets? You can't let them starve, you'd need a way to divorce money from services in that case, which is part of what the US welfare system tries to do in part.

rbritton 11y ago
At the risk of downvotes, why can't you? At some level, personal responsibility must come into play. There's a limit on how much you can protect people from themselves, though where that limit is can be a very political topic.
- JonFish85 11y ago
  People aren't responsible though, especially not people who are needing social services like welfare. People think short term, and some need to be protected from themselves.
  - aninhumer 11y ago
    Poor people don't always make the best financial decisions, but I think the number of people who would waste all their money without buying any food is relatively small.
- varelse 11y ago
  Because then the right lobbyists contact either FoxNews or MSNBC (depending on who's apparently to blame) and ignite a two-minute hate about how horrible this is by trotting out a few tragedies and the sheeple get their outrage on, no?
seba_dos1 11y ago
Sure, there's also stuff regarding disabilities, health and probably way more that simply didn't slip into my mind right now. That's why I phrased it as I did. However, I suppose the existence of basic income could also change the character of those remaining social programs. If someone spends their entire income on lottery tickers, they probably need different kind of help than more money from welfare.
afarrell 11y ago
What happens when someone sells their EBT for money and spends that money on $addictive_substance? Fundamentally, forcing adults to not die requires quite a bit of coercion. There will still be soup kitchens, which will have low demand anyway. If we really want to, we could just send those folks to CCC-style work camps I guess?
AnthonyMouse 11y ago
Nobody who has money in hand and is starving is going to buy lottery tickets instead of food.
- icebraining 11y ago
  Exactly. If you're worried, just give in small amounts, so that one can never blow the month's income when they're well-fed.
- cavisne 11y ago
  They are very likely to buy drugs though
cavisne 11y ago
Exactly. Once the government takes responsibility for something society will never let them take it away. Basic income with no other welfare might be plausible, Basic income on top of all the existing welfare is a socialist dream

rbritton 11y ago

At the risk of downvotes, why can't you? At some level, personal responsibility must come into play. There's a limit on how much you can protect people from themselves, though where that limit is can be a very political topic.

JonFish85 11y ago
People aren't responsible though, especially not people who are needing social services like welfare. People think short term, and some need to be protected from themselves.
- aninhumer 11y ago
  Poor people don't always make the best financial decisions, but I think the number of people who would waste all their money without buying any food is relatively small.
varelse 11y ago
Because then the right lobbyists contact either FoxNews or MSNBC (depending on who's apparently to blame) and ignite a two-minute hate about how horrible this is by trotting out a few tragedies and the sheeple get their outrage on, no?

seba_dos1 11y ago

Sure, there's also stuff regarding disabilities, health and probably way more that simply didn't slip into my mind right now. That's why I phrased it as I did. However, I suppose the existence of basic income could also change the character of those remaining social programs. If someone spends their entire income on lottery tickers, they probably need different kind of help than more money from welfare.

afarrell 11y ago

What happens when someone sells their EBT for money and spends that money on $addictive_substance? Fundamentally, forcing adults to not die requires quite a bit of coercion. There will still be soup kitchens, which will have low demand anyway. If we really want to, we could just send those folks to CCC-style work camps I guess?

AnthonyMouse 11y ago

Nobody who has money in hand and is starving is going to buy lottery tickets instead of food.

icebraining 11y ago
Exactly. If you're worried, just give in small amounts, so that one can never blow the month's income when they're well-fed.
cavisne 11y ago
They are very likely to buy drugs though

cavisne 11y ago

Exactly. Once the government takes responsibility for something society will never let them take it away. Basic income with no other welfare might be plausible, Basic income on top of all the existing welfare is a socialist dream