Thinking Utopian: How about a universal basic income?

Wonkblog (WaPo)) ^ | 5-11-2013 | Mike Konczal

[Gaffer]

You probably don’t want to say that. It might affect you.

[cunning_fish]

LOL. Learn from Commies if you are so eager to follow them.

It hasn’t flown for earlier Soviets in 1920s and ruined their productivity beyond repair.

It fact Stalinism and Gulag were an answer to Utopian socialist failures.

Forced labor was a single way to make any good use of politicized freeloaders’ society.

Is it an American future?

[JCBreckenridge]

I’m loving these great ‘conservative’ ideas...

[ctdonath2]

Question remains: what motivates the capable to work? Why bother if all your basic needs are paid for? Send me a no-effort check for $30,000/yr and I won’t contribute $30,000 effort to the economy. I can live quite well (by my humble standards) on that.

There’s a reason the Bible opines “he who will not work, will not eat”. Without negative natural consequences, people will sit around wasting the fruit of other people’s labor. Pay me $30,000/yr for doing nothing and I’ll park myself in the woods reading library books; pay me nothing for doing nothing and within 3 days I’ll start paying $30,00/yr in taxes on my earnings.

[ctdonath2]

“The hand-wringers who wonder about those unable to budget their money could be taken care of by distributing the money electronically on a daily basis. Have a federal program to help make mortguage/rent payments on a daily basis and everyone is now covered with the basic needs.”

Ah, so next after giving them $30,000 cash no strings attached, the gov’t has to dole it out in $82/day increments so they don’t blow their rent etc money. Then the gov’t has to pay those expenses directly to make sure those bills get paid.

Good night, how much freebies and hand holding and pampering do these people need before they can start acting like adults and taking care of themselves? I know a very few truly need help but this is getting stupid.