How much do I think people need? I think all people deserve a place to call home; food; water; electricity; education; healthcare; a reliable means of transpor

How much do I think people need? I think all people deserve a place to call home; food; water; electricity; education; healthcare; a reliable means of transportation; a guaranteed retirement plan or pension. Even with an above-minimum-wage job, or even two, this is no longer feasible for so many citizens of the US: you either end up compromising or forgoing some options entirely. I don't believe having access to these things should be a standard to aspire to that many struggle to achieve -- rather, this should be the bare minimum that, were you to lose your job tomorrow and have almost no savings (as is the situation for so many people in the US), you would have no fear of losing. But if you want to attach a number to it (which I think is the wrong way to put it into terms, as money focuses the conversation on short term cost, when really it's a long term investment), let's start at $5000/mo. $60,000 per year, annualized, all the time, in perpetuity. Per adult. Afraid someone who is otherwise able to work is abusing the system? Start up a large national public works program: I think we can all agree there's SO much to rebuild, fix, and improve in the US and in our communities. FDR envisioned something close to this when he signed minimum wage into law: "No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By ‘business’ I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level — I mean the wages of decent living"