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Most people working for minimum wage (and probably most people in general in the US) work pay check to pay check (like the Applebee's manager stated in the arti

Most people working for minimum wage (and probably most people in general in the US) work pay check to pay check (like the Applebee's manager stated in the article). They max out their available credit so that the interest takes up all of the possible slack in their income. Under UBI how to you prevent people from now borrowing more money (spending it on a vacation, clothes, fancier car, etc.), paying all the UBI as interest and ending up back in the same financial situation they were before. I don't think UBI solves peoples financial problems. I think Thomas Paine's idea of getting a large lump sum when reaching the age of maturity has some merit. Maybe a manditory two year service in the military or other government org after high school and then they receive a large chunk of money to start their life ($200k or something like that). The person could spend it on school, start a business, down payment on a house, wedding, etc. Having classed in high school discussing what one should do with that money would be a great way for students to think about the future and in a positive way.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> Under UBI how to you prevent people from now borrowing more money (spending it on a vacation, clothes, fancier car, etc.), paying all the UBI as interest and ending up back in the same financial situation they were before. Don't make UBI subject to garnishment/attachment to pay debt and exclude it from income considered available when determining bankruptcy terms. Lending behavior under those conditions will prevent the use of credit you are concerned with, and bankruptcy itself will resolve problematic cases to the extent that lending behavior does not prevent it.
- njarboe 5y ago
  Most people in financial distress don't do bankruptcy. They run up their credit cards/car loans/etc. till the interest payments are high enough that they are living paycheck-to-paycheck. They get stuck in that situation. I think in the US only the government can garnish wages. Private entities can only bug you a lot and wreck your credit. I just don't think UBI solves the poverty problem like many people think. But I sure would like some country to try it to see what happens.
cwkoss 5y ago
I find this comment very classist and detached from reality. Most minimum wage earners are not in poverty because they are taking too many vacations and buying too many luxury items: they are in poverty because rents are consuming 40-60% of their income, costs of essentials to live and commute to work are rapidly rising, and a single medical debt can wipe out all of their savings in an instant. Avocado toast is not destroying the middle class - corporate greed is. People aren't poor because they are lazy and stupid, as ultra-capitalist pundits would like you to believe to prevent you feeling empathy. America is systemically broken in a way that it is no longer 'the land of opportunity': poverty today is a trap that hardly anyone can escape by simply working hard and spending wisely.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Under UBI how to you prevent people from now borrowing more money (spending it on a vacation, clothes, fancier car, etc.), paying all the UBI as interest and ending up back in the same financial situation they were before. Don't make UBI subject to garnishment/attachment to pay debt and exclude it from income considered available when determining bankruptcy terms. Lending behavior under those conditions will prevent the use of credit you are concerned with, and bankruptcy itself will resolve problematic cases to the extent that lending behavior does not prevent it.

njarboe 5y ago
Most people in financial distress don't do bankruptcy. They run up their credit cards/car loans/etc. till the interest payments are high enough that they are living paycheck-to-paycheck. They get stuck in that situation. I think in the US only the government can garnish wages. Private entities can only bug you a lot and wreck your credit. I just don't think UBI solves the poverty problem like many people think. But I sure would like some country to try it to see what happens.

cwkoss 5y ago

I find this comment very classist and detached from reality. Most minimum wage earners are not in poverty because they are taking too many vacations and buying too many luxury items: they are in poverty because rents are consuming 40-60% of their income, costs of essentials to live and commute to work are rapidly rising, and a single medical debt can wipe out all of their savings in an instant. Avocado toast is not destroying the middle class - corporate greed is. People aren't poor because they are lazy and stupid, as ultra-capitalist pundits would like you to believe to prevent you feeling empathy. America is systemically broken in a way that it is no longer 'the land of opportunity': poverty today is a trap that hardly anyone can escape by simply working hard and spending wisely.