[TimJRobinson]

Australia has very strong safety nets. Currently welfare pays $250AUD per week for a single person or $225 each for a couple. There is also plenty of social housing.

My favorite welfare program they've created (called NEIS) is for those who want to start their own company. You get paid the above but get to build a company instead of having to search for a job (which is very useful when there are no jobs available in your area).

[paulddraper]

That sounds....awful.

Taxpayers would basically be funding all the hackathon projects that are "Uber for X".

[PostOnce]

It's also building an educated workforce, at the end of this thing, these guys have developed more and deeper skills in a useful industry, and so what if the government paid for it instead of paying for school, during which time they also wouldn't be working?

What's the alternative, work at McDonalds and develop no useful skills in the meantime?

Additionally, _some_ of these companies will actually work out, so there's that bonus too!

Overall, it sounds like a pretty solid investment in the workforce to me. A lot better than paying people to sit home and "look for a job" in an area where jobs are hard to find, at any rate.

[paulddraper]

> What's the alternative, work at McDonalds and develop no useful skills in the meantime?

Do something useful. (FYI, someone paying you is a strong indicator of "usefulness".)

[lugg]

This attitude is incredibly american.

I'd rather my taxes went to someone trying to build a business than someone that "tries" to get a job only to get fired after a month every time.

[paulddraper]

> This attitude is incredibly american.

As an American, I often fear that responsibility, self-reliance, and self-determinism aren't respected by my countrymen.

So I'm rather heartened to hear that.

[unprepare]

>responsibility, self-reliance, and self-determinism

and you feel that an employee better exemplifies these traits than an entrepreneur?

[lugg]

I'm aware its probably not an accurate portrayal, its just the kind of thing the UK/AU/NZ hears a lot from americans and we don't quite understand the narrow minded logic.

While you're right that the doll bludger should "just get a job", you thinking that isn't going to change the fact that they won't.

[detaro]

And if you can't find someone (=clients) paying you, you won't have a business. And if you can't make a case that someone would very likely pay you, they won't approve your plan.

Such programs aren't VC funds, they are a way to get tiny companies off the ground and to legalize under-the-table gigs (which are worse for both worker and state in the long run).

[TimJRobinson]

99% of people aren't in Tech. They are starting hair dressers, restaurants, selling products or doing a trade. You also have to have a business plan and do a monthly update with a trainer who guides you ensures you're working on it.

I'd way rather my tax dollars go towards people attempting to create something useful and improve their community than giving them food stamps and leaving them to themselves, which often leads to them sitting around home feeling useless and doing nothing with their lives.