4 ms·

How so? The average family of 4 on Snap benefits receives $465/mo for food. If you can't buy groceries on that then you're doing something wrong.

undersuit 7y ago
Please answer the question. If you can't live on $1000 a month from the federal government I think you're doing something wrong.
- tomschlick 7y ago
  Right now we have multiple federal programs (Welfare, SNAP, Disability, etc). Most of these UBI programs get rid of those in favor a monthly cash payment... So how are you disagreeing with me that people mismanaging money would result in them asking for more? And eventually someone would start adding those programs back costing us even more...
  - undersuit 7y ago
    If we have all these federal programs now, why are there people that are food insecure in the United States now?
    - tomschlick 7y ago
      There will always be people who either fall through the cracks or just simply people who are bad at managing their resources. I don't know if there is any real solution to fix that.
      - undersuit 7y ago
        Then why would you attack UBI over this issue?
        tomschlick 7y ago
        Because I don't think UBI will help in the long term. It will lead to inflation of commodities (rent, food, cars, etc) and will lead to us having a bigger entitlement burden in the long run.
        undersuit 7y ago
        You really didn't answer my question though, and now we're on a different, tired series of questions that always get asked in regards to UBI.
        tomschlick 7y ago
        I did. I dont think it would work because UBI requires getting rid of those other social safety net programs. $1k/mo will barely cover rent/food a month for things like single mother households and would lead to the reintroduction of other social programs to help those cases. Leading us right back to where we are now with more entitlement / debt.
gremlinsinc 7y ago
Have you priced baby formula lately? $40 bucks a can, our baby goes through like $200 a month. We have a 2 year old and a 5 month old. $265 for 3 square meals for 1 child and 2 adults is rough. I think we spend close to 700 on food. I don't even want to think about when the kids get older, two teenage boys could easily bankrupt a family on snap. We struggle some months because I freelance and am not the best marketer of my dev services, and the hurt is real. I have a valuable service I can provide and usually we eek through the hard times. But most others are not so fortunate, WE were not so fortunate before I self-taught myself to code 8-10 years ago. We had a stint of homelessness for about 2-3 weeks. Not by choice. We had no drug or addiction issues we (were) Mormon at the time and abstaining from coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol, drugs -- wife still is (Mormon). Anyone can fall on hard times, it's not just junkies and shitty people. And yes, not everybody is going to be great at managing their money, but if they at least had more of it, then they'd have less stress and worry. Less stress would lead to less anger and domestic violence, or robberies, and other crimes making society overall safer. Less crimes = less inmates in prison = less money from taxes going to that. Less inmates = more potential workers adding value to the economy, or at the very least helping raise their kids to be better adults because they can afford to give them quality time because they don't need to hold down two jobs. There've been studies done that show when certain occupations have feast/famine episodes, i.e. you get large amount of cash at a specific time of year, and have to make it last the rest of the year -- when you get toward the end of the year and begin struggling your actual IQ can go down by as much as 40 points. Stress from poverty actually causes IQ to drop. If we can end poverty we make society's aggregated IQ rise, making us experience more progress. It benefits everybody not just a few as the current system is rigged to do.

undersuit 7y ago

Please answer the question. If you can't live on $1000 a month from the federal government I think you're doing something wrong.

tomschlick 7y ago
Right now we have multiple federal programs (Welfare, SNAP, Disability, etc). Most of these UBI programs get rid of those in favor a monthly cash payment... So how are you disagreeing with me that people mismanaging money would result in them asking for more? And eventually someone would start adding those programs back costing us even more...
- undersuit 7y ago
  If we have all these federal programs now, why are there people that are food insecure in the United States now?
  - tomschlick 7y ago
    There will always be people who either fall through the cracks or just simply people who are bad at managing their resources. I don't know if there is any real solution to fix that.
    - undersuit 7y ago
      Then why would you attack UBI over this issue?
      - tomschlick 7y ago
        Because I don't think UBI will help in the long term. It will lead to inflation of commodities (rent, food, cars, etc) and will lead to us having a bigger entitlement burden in the long run.
        undersuit 7y ago
        You really didn't answer my question though, and now we're on a different, tired series of questions that always get asked in regards to UBI.
        tomschlick 7y ago
        I did. I dont think it would work because UBI requires getting rid of those other social safety net programs. $1k/mo will barely cover rent/food a month for things like single mother households and would lead to the reintroduction of other social programs to help those cases. Leading us right back to where we are now with more entitlement / debt.

gremlinsinc 7y ago

Have you priced baby formula lately? $40 bucks a can, our baby goes through like $200 a month. We have a 2 year old and a 5 month old. $265 for 3 square meals for 1 child and 2 adults is rough. I think we spend close to 700 on food. I don't even want to think about when the kids get older, two teenage boys could easily bankrupt a family on snap. We struggle some months because I freelance and am not the best marketer of my dev services, and the hurt is real. I have a valuable service I can provide and usually we eek through the hard times. But most others are not so fortunate, WE were not so fortunate before I self-taught myself to code 8-10 years ago. We had a stint of homelessness for about 2-3 weeks. Not by choice. We had no drug or addiction issues we (were) Mormon at the time and abstaining from coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol, drugs -- wife still is (Mormon). Anyone can fall on hard times, it's not just junkies and shitty people. And yes, not everybody is going to be great at managing their money, but if they at least had more of it, then they'd have less stress and worry. Less stress would lead to less anger and domestic violence, or robberies, and other crimes making society overall safer. Less crimes = less inmates in prison = less money from taxes going to that. Less inmates = more potential workers adding value to the economy, or at the very least helping raise their kids to be better adults because they can afford to give them quality time because they don't need to hold down two jobs. There've been studies done that show when certain occupations have feast/famine episodes, i.e. you get large amount of cash at a specific time of year, and have to make it last the rest of the year -- when you get toward the end of the year and begin struggling your actual IQ can go down by as much as 40 points. Stress from poverty actually causes IQ to drop. If we can end poverty we make society's aggregated IQ rise, making us experience more progress. It benefits everybody not just a few as the current system is rigged to do.