4 ms·
I don't think your points are necessarily wrong, but I have a couple comments. These are from the standpoint of the USA, I don't know much about other countries
by mordocai 11y ago
I don't think your points are necessarily wrong, but I have a couple comments. These are from the standpoint of the USA, I don't know much about other countries.
1. Basic income + universal healthcare theoretically would be able to replace all other welfare programs, so there shouldn't be people "wasting" their basic income while drawing from existing programs. Also, I consider some level of frivolities as a basic need.
2. Many poor people stay on welfare instead of getting a job because there is a "gap" where if you get a job you actually are bringing in less income than on welfare. Basic income should remove this gap, which may potentially increase employment.
3. Most poor are not starving to death due to private help like churches and food banks in my experience. I know when I went through a small period of being below the poverty line we got a small amount of food stamps + wic and ended up needing help from those private entities too despite the fact that I had an above minimum wage job. However, cheap food is often bad for you food which is why a lot of them tend to be obese(food banks and the like often don't have the money to get very much good for you food). Combine this with a tendency to binge eat when you have food then have periods where you have no food to eat.
- jandrese 11y agoAs I understand it, that gap is a myth. You don't lose benefits as soon as you cross some imaginary threshold, they are phased out as your income increases. So you don't have as much incentive to make more money, but you never lose money in the process.
- rm_-rf_slash 11y agoIt's not as clean-cut as it sounds. Especially when it comes to saving money. If you're really good about saving but your income doesn't rise or rise quickly enough, those benefits start drying up faster than you might expect.
- chadzawistowski 11y agoTake a look at this chart http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user92183/imageroot/2015/07/WelfareState1.png http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user9218...
- jandrese 11y agoDo you have the source for this, because it looks suspicious as heck. It has someone making nominally $20,000 receiving $43,000 from the state in assistance. Is it due to a "you are living in a city with sky high rents" adjustment?
- undersuit 11y agohttp://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Erik-Randolph-Testimony-062515-HR-5.pdf http://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Eri... It's amazing what you can do by typing in the name of a graph on Google. I guess that's why my school teachers marked down my score if I forgot to label my graphs.
- mordocai 11y agoTwo problems there: 1. If it is a myth than poor people need to be educated on it because it is pervasive. Similar to the myth poor people generally have that if you get a ticket it is better to not show up than to show up and tell them you can't pay. 2. I believe it is not a myth but I don't have any proof available. While benefits are phased out as your income increases, I think the phasing out happens quicker than the increase. The chart the other commenter posted looks good but who knows.