> I see a lot of I think statements in your post, and no empirical data. That's totally fair; this is observational anecdata. Something a bit more objective w

> I see a lot of I think statements in your post, and no empirical data. That's totally fair; this is observational anecdata. Something a bit more objective would be to look at lottery winners [1], a case where someone gets literally millions of dollars injected into their bank account. Despite this a majority of lottery winners end up broke relatively quickly. Of course, this is going to be a selection bias; typically financially responsible people are not playing the lottery since it's generally regarded as a bad financial investment, but the fact that the lottery exists proves that there's a large enough audience to justify its existence. > What specific issues are you suggesting result from giving cash over food stamps? I think there's a risk of an increase in the aforementioned lottery tickets, > Are you familiar with the absolutely byzantine rules imposed by many states on food stamp recipients on what they can purchase? > It was recently discussed in an article here I believe. It goes down to specifying which specific types of cheddar cheese are permissible. Yep! I actually looked into the process of applying for them when I was really broke in 2016 [2], and you will get zero arguments from me that it's a draconian system that needs revision. There are a bunch of arbitrary rules about how they can be redeemed and I am somewhat against those, but that doesn't mean that we get rid of food stamps entirely. [1] https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/64958/lottery-winners-who-blew-the-lot https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/64958/lottery-winners-... [2] I actually didn't end up getting them due to an extreme bit of good luck finding a job just in time.