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This is first-order thinking. The problem with the poor is not that they have no money, it's that they have no ability to make money. So giving out money isn'

This is first-order thinking. The problem with the poor is not that they have no money, it's that they have no ability to make money. So giving out money isn't going to fix things, you need to fix the lack of ability. In fact, giving out money is harmful, because it enslaves both the recipients and the givers. If everyone gets $100, prices will simply rise (as mentioned in other threads). But now you can't stop giving them the money, because they need it worse than before. The people doing this justify it that they will get "valid scientific data," but they won't get any valid scientific data on how UBI performs, because they aren't doing UBI. There's a big difference between giving 100 poor people money and giving all the poor people (or even everyone) money. A bit unrelated, but the article mentions that these ideas have been around a long time, citing Thomas More's "Utopia." However, they fail to follow up with the modern connation of the word, that utopia is unachievable. We've tried these ideas again and again, in American utopian societies of the 1800s, in communes, in Communism, and it doesn't work. Maybe it's time we stopped trying to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results the next time.

peterwwillis 8y ago
"The problem with the poor" is definitely multifaceted. You need to fix transportation, health care, availability of jobs, cost of housing, availability of essentials such as groceries/laundry, cost of utilities, availability and quality of public services such as schools and job training programs, and stem systemic incarceration of minorities, in addition to providing special services such as child care/day care, family planning, counseling, and so on. Imagining that $10k is going to solve these things is insane. Even if you took all the money you gave to each of the people in an area and added it all up, it still couldn't even pay for a fraction of the services mentioned above. This isn't to say UBI wouldn't be helpful. But let's face it, UBI is just some academic's moon-shot that they hope will magically improve everything, without thinking through all the complex logistical issues that require more than a bigger paycheck to solve. Sure, give people money, but don't imagine for a second that it will end poverty. It may make poverty more tolerable, possibly extending it.

peterwwillis 8y ago

"The problem with the poor" is definitely multifaceted. You need to fix transportation, health care, availability of jobs, cost of housing, availability of essentials such as groceries/laundry, cost of utilities, availability and quality of public services such as schools and job training programs, and stem systemic incarceration of minorities, in addition to providing special services such as child care/day care, family planning, counseling, and so on. Imagining that $10k is going to solve these things is insane. Even if you took all the money you gave to each of the people in an area and added it all up, it still couldn't even pay for a fraction of the services mentioned above. This isn't to say UBI wouldn't be helpful. But let's face it, UBI is just some academic's moon-shot that they hope will magically improve everything, without thinking through all the complex logistical issues that require more than a bigger paycheck to solve. Sure, give people money, but don't imagine for a second that it will end poverty. It may make poverty more tolerable, possibly extending it.