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by chimeracoder
3454 days ago
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> Think about it like this in the US: Imagine giving everybody a basic income and eliminating minimum wage, social security, medicare, welfare, and so forth... What happens when someone inevitably spends their entire income on non-essential expenses, or bets it all on black, or gets talked into making a bad investment, leaving them with no money in the bank? Do we just tell them, "well, suck it up and get a job"? "Sorry, you can't feed yourself because you made your choice on how to spend your money"? Replacing all other entitlement programs with a cash handout is a political non-starter. |
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Most entitlement programs in the United States are based on the poverty line. Currently that number is $11,770 for an individual. Working 40 hours a week you'd receive $15,080. Thus a great many working individuals simply do not qualify for much government assistance already as they not only receive more than minimum wage but they also work more than 40 hours a week.
My point is the way the system is currently designed punishes the working poor who have managed to make a life for themselves and rewards those with part time jobs, many of whom have chosen to not do so. If framed in this way I estimate that this would not only be politically viable but the party who proposed it would win in a landslide.