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I'm not convinced. I'd pay extra taxes for a limited time to see if this would work but I suspect it wouldn't. My conclusion is based on one assumption: The so
by melvinram 16y ago
I'm not convinced. I'd pay extra taxes for a limited time to see if this would work but I suspect it wouldn't.
My conclusion is based on one assumption: The source of financial problems is either bad money management or lack of enough earning capacity. Giving away free money fixes neither in the long term (this is another assumption.)
If their problem is bad money management, giving them more money and hoping that they'll fix their money management habits sounds like a very ineffective approach to fixing the problem.
If their problem is lack of earning capability, that needs to be addressed through education and job creation. Giving a single mother with 2-3 kids an extra $1500 per month might make her life a lot easier but it won't allow her to begin earning an extra $1500 on her own unless she uses the extra money to make very smart choices. Given the real world demands that she would be under, it seems that probability is not likely in her favor and again seems like an ineffectively approach to solving the problem.
The article really boiled down to: give people free money and they'll make wise decisions to help themselves. It didn't provide enough arguments to support that thesis and from just my understanding of human nature, I can't see this being an effective approach to solving the problem of poverty.
- omouse 16y agoIf their problem is lack of earning capability, that needs to be addressed through education and job creation. What's the point of creating more jobs if they don't give you benefits or the wages are still fairly low?
- d2viant 16y agoThen perhaps you're creating (or training for) the wrong jobs. There are many vocations out there that provide benefits and have rather large earning potentials.
- pessimizer 16y agoThe wrong jobs still have to be done by someone though. When you're talking about an entire system, you can't shift everybody out of a class of work as a solution or your dishes won't get washed.
- prodigal_erik 16y agoCan you name any? There are a lot of people out there who keep trying to find one and failing. If not for many years of experience in software (without which even new grads are really struggling), I have no idea what I'd be doing.
- smithbits 16y agoBut what if those aren't the only two causes of poverty? I don't know if the idea has merit or not, but I think poverty is much more complicated than that.
- melvinram 16y agoI fully acknowledge that the two causes I listed may not be the only reasons for poverty. I guess my main point was that it's important to understand and treat the causes, not the symptoms.
- nodata 16y agoWhat if the deal was: they get 20k, but the government manages their money?