Posted on 05/29/2018 5:07:43 PM PDT by Kaslin
Sometimes you just need to think outside of the box. That’s apparently the key to success in Stockton, California where their young mayor, Michael Tubbs, has some interesting plans to turn things around for the citizens of his community. One idea, which we’ve seen before in Europe on occasion (without much success), is a guaranteed basic income for some of his residents. Nothing to retire on, mind you. Just $500 per month to keep the basics covered.
But Stockton has other problems, including some gang violence issues. How do you deal with that successfully when so many larger cities have failed? By taking the same approach. Tubbs wants to identify the people most likely to shoot someone and pay them $1,000 a month not to. And before you ask… no. I’m not even joking. (LA Times)
Tubbs, a Stockton native and Stanford graduate who is all of 27 years old, wants to give at least $500 a month to a select group of residents. They’ll be able to spend it as they wish, for 18 months, in a pilot program to test the impact of what’s called guaranteed basic income.
If the very sound of that knocked you half off your chair, this next initiative might finish the job.
Stockton is about to award stipends of up to $1,000 a month to residents deemed most likely to shoot somebody. This program is called Advance Peace, and it’s modeled after a crime reduction program in the Bay Area city of Richmond.
You see, the theory here is that only a small number of people are responsible for a large portion of the violence in the community. They would be the really hardcore gangbangers who are most prone to see violence as a solution. If you can get them to stop shooting people, a big chunk of your gun violence problem goes away. At this point, you’re probably thinking to yourself, holy cow! How did nobody else think of this already? But examining the idea a bit further, you might begin to wonder whether or not this might be seen as some sort of reward program for violent felons. Never you fear. Mayor Tubbs wants you to know that it’s nothing of the kind.
“Let me be clear, Advance Peace is not a get out of jail free card,” Tubbs wrote in explaining the program on Stockton’s public safety website. “Participating in this program doesn’t erase the past, but it does help these young men learn how to make better choices for their own and our community’s collective future.”
We’ve discussed the idea of Basic Guaranteed Income here in the past and I’m not going to wade back in and cover the same territory. But “Advance Peace?” I’m guessing that the only way to identify people who are “the most likely to shoot somebody” would be to select candidates from a pool of people who have some, er… experience in that area. And if they’re already shooting people, don’t you have some other sort of public service program they’d qualify for? I think it’s called “prison” or something like that.
The problem is that this isn’t just some crackpot idea from a guy running for office who is trying to gain attention. He’s already in office, so this has an outside chance of becoming reality. With that in mind, all of you people who enjoy recreationally shooting up your fellow human beings might want to head out to Stockton. This could be worth some extra cash.
The entire state seems to be populated by people who are either (1) cat ladies or (2) extremely ruthless predators.
Stockton wants your murderous thugs so much, it will pay for them! You just provide the one-way plane tickets.
Great for “Lucky Gunner”?
“CA mayor to offer $1K/mo stipend to “those most likely to shoot somebody” “
Does that include the police force?
In other words, the city is going to sponsor the gangs (kinda like a boys’ club) and ask them be nice and not shoot anybody.
More insane leftist CA stooges...
I demands $1k/mo cause I’s not cheap yo
Mr Mayor....I’m very likely to kill numerous people.But a payment of $5,000 a month would certainly cause me to adjust my attitude.
Iditocracy in real life.
“Stockton wants your murderous thugs so much, it will pay for them!”
The mayor’s spending too much time at Starbucks.
They haven't actually gone on any shooting rampages yet because they didn't have the guns and ammo they needed.
But now, thanks to mushy headed Libtards, they will have taxpayer money for the guns, ammo and other gear they need to carry out their plans to kill taxpayers.
When people become this dumb, are they still considered human?
Is “blowing people up” worth more? Dearborn, MI could go Republican if Stockton is serious.
We have the widow of a former neighbor who ended up in Stockton after her PanAm pilot husband died at the wheel of an 18 wheeler hauling fertilizer after moving out there and buying a small farm and going bust in retirement. Stockton is a Mexican Gang Shit hole now. She is afraid to go out after dark there. And it’s a mystery to me how the city managed to exit Chapter 9 without touching their PE salaries, benes and retirement (even though a Federal Bankruptcy Judge told them they could do a lot of haircutting). I can tell you this, with guys like this running the place, they will be back in bankruptcy again, and soon. But then there are dozens of cities both here in CA and around the country that are going to go broke too, and it’s the cops and the FF’s who are at the bottom of the problem. If you have the means, you should take a look at PE salaries (here in CA they are a matter of public record). Our county FF’s are the highest-paid PE’s in the county with most of them earning at least $250k, and they retire at 50 with full pension, H/C, etc. It can’t go on forever!
I applaud them and fervently wish to see it implemented in Stockton. It’s a living laboratory that will prove the wisdom or folly of the idea. Like everyone else here, I think it will blow up in their faces like a loaded cigar, but the damage will be limited to the local area.
Much better than a majority of Congress critters implementing this foolishness nationwide.
It would suck to be a resident of Stockton, but hey, they elected these idiots in the first place.
I’m calling nepotism.
How much you want to bet that all of the politicians who cooked up this lunatic scheme have deadbeat relatives that they want to funnel some cash to?
Ah, the allure of appeasement. And the definition of insanity.
“Oh, did the big, bad Trump call you an animal? Here, let me kiss it and make it better,” the mayor did not go on to say ... but he sure must have been thinking it!
Protection money?
Ask the Mob about the best way to administer the program. Are “kneecappings” also covered?
Concrete overshoes?
Profiling! Does this exclude by race?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
