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The best solution I can think of to counter people blowing all their money is to trickle the money to an account, instead of giving it to them as a single fat p

The best solution I can think of to counter people blowing all their money is to trickle the money to an account, instead of giving it to them as a single fat paycheck every month. So if instead of giving them $1500/30days, give them $50 a day or maybe $25/day and a $750 "rent stipend" bulk at the end, so that they can't blow more than a certain amount a day unless they've been actively saving. This encourages the behavior of saving which is the biggest missing skill for the poor (because they are not used to having anything to save). As for what happens when that gets blown out because of an emergency, I think addressing the cost of health care in a place like America is an independent and arguably more important challenge than providing BI. The system built around insurance policies and over-priced hospital procedures is ridiculous to say the least. You shouldn't need insurance to afford simple checkups, prescriptions and treatment, which would prevent most overcomplicated health conditions for the financially constrained. Every other financial emergency I believe can be responded to with "tough shit you've exhausted your social safety nets," and it's probably ok. BI won't solve everything (or even anything) magically overnight, the intent is to build a culture long-term where people manage their lives around it and don't have to be told "tough shit" from birth.

ddebernardy 10y ago
Isn't 'a $750 "rent stipend" bulk at the end' an essentially direct redistribution of social wealth into the hands of those who don't necessarily need it?
- specialist 10y ago
  The beauty of the (universal) basic income notion is the elimination of needs assessment, morality, judgement.
- nostrademons 10y ago
  It (and the rest of basic income) is a direct redistribution of social wealth into the hands of everyone, some of whom don't necessarily need it. One of the things that distinguishes basic income from welfare is that the former is an unconditional transfer payment. That means that some of the folks who receive it don't actually need it. But it gains a lot of advantages over traditional welfare plans in the process - it is much simpler to administer, it doesn't require making politically fraught judgments of who is worthy, it eliminates disincentives to work that come from income cliffs, and it's easier to gather support since everybody sees a benefit. Presumably those who don't need the basic income will end up funding a greater portion of it through higher taxes.
mjevans 10y ago
My only worry about that is the lack of (enforced) competition in the market to keep rent under control. How do you 'enforce' competition? Build baby build, and you set how much to build by how much is being charged in an area.
Schwolop 10y ago
If you've ever played "idle games" (e.g. bloodrizer.ru/games/kittens/#) they've effectively taken this concept to the extreme. Everything is earned and paid for as a rate of $/second. This strongly encourages you to leave your system in a state of positive rate before letting it idle, else you'll return to a ruined society. Back in the real world, I think people might have a better understanding of their finances if they could view their position as a continuous function rather than only seeing the discrete transactions as most of us currently do.

ddebernardy 10y ago

Isn't 'a $750 "rent stipend" bulk at the end' an essentially direct redistribution of social wealth into the hands of those who don't necessarily need it?

specialist 10y ago
The beauty of the (universal) basic income notion is the elimination of needs assessment, morality, judgement.
nostrademons 10y ago
It (and the rest of basic income) is a direct redistribution of social wealth into the hands of everyone, some of whom don't necessarily need it. One of the things that distinguishes basic income from welfare is that the former is an unconditional transfer payment. That means that some of the folks who receive it don't actually need it. But it gains a lot of advantages over traditional welfare plans in the process - it is much simpler to administer, it doesn't require making politically fraught judgments of who is worthy, it eliminates disincentives to work that come from income cliffs, and it's easier to gather support since everybody sees a benefit. Presumably those who don't need the basic income will end up funding a greater portion of it through higher taxes.

mjevans 10y ago

My only worry about that is the lack of (enforced) competition in the market to keep rent under control. How do you 'enforce' competition? Build baby build, and you set how much to build by how much is being charged in an area.

Schwolop 10y ago

If you've ever played "idle games" (e.g. bloodrizer.ru/games/kittens/#) they've effectively taken this concept to the extreme. Everything is earned and paid for as a rate of $/second. This strongly encourages you to leave your system in a state of positive rate before letting it idle, else you'll return to a ruined society. Back in the real world, I think people might have a better understanding of their finances if they could view their position as a continuous function rather than only seeing the discrete transactions as most of us currently do.