Sorry, but this whole idea is crap. If you make $20,000 a year you are in the top 5% of wage earners on the planet. The problem with America these days is that people have absolutely no concept of what poor really is.
Giving people a guaranteed level of income simply eliminates the need for personal responsibility and financial management. "Poor people" in this country have smart phones with data plans, cable TV, high speed internet for their tablets, get their nails done, get tattoos, buy designer clothes and shoes for their kids, have a car and a roof over their heads.
The concept of wants versus needs has vanished for Americans over the last 30 or so years. Nothing but first world problems like having to have an IPhone 5 when the 7s are already out. I see it with my wife being a third grade teacher. Almost every kid has a smart phone, but they don't pay their book fees and are on free lunch. However, they do have new Nike shoes, 9 year old girls getting their nails done every week, they spend 100s on tumbling and gymnastics.
So what do you do, throw an extra $25,000 or $50,000 a year at these folks so they can make two trips a year to Disney instead on one? Give them money so they can upgrade their phones and iPads? Or now maybe that family that only makes $30,000 a year can go ahead and have that 4th and 5th kid they've been wanting since they have extra cash.
Are you building your case by using the example of $20,000 income and its spending power in the US and comparing it to where it stands in the world? Come on.
Although I share your sentiment that society has come to accept certain luxuries (cable, cell phones, electronics, etc.) as necessities in today's world, you really don't think that living comfortably on an income of $20,000 dollars in this country is a matter of prudent financial choices do you? An income of $20,000 is equivalent to a bring home of around $1300-$1400 per month. Assuming housing/rent ($600) and car ($300)... this leaves you $400 to $500 per month to buy food, pay utilities, gasoline, clothing, emergencies, etc. You don't really believe that people who struggle do so just because they make poor choices do you? None of that covers the issue of the cost of healthcare either, because a person making that income is likely not receiving benefits from their employer.
And if you really think that UBI as presented is going to be a guaranteed lifestyle of luxury and Disney trips you don't have a grasp on the concept. This is from an article in the
conservative National Review by a
conservative writer who is leaning toward believing that UBI might be a good thing...
- First, restructuring the welfare state bureaucracy to give everyone the same entitlement would almost certainly not give people enough money to shirk work. It would avoid people starving on the streets, but it wouldn’t enable them to do much more. The truly indolent would not be able to “benefit shop” to collect the levels of income that really annoy people (see the UK’s Benefits Street for a great example of how this is a western world problem). Anyone who wants some creature comforts, which most of poor do (see The Road to Wigan Pier, for example) would be encouraged to work rather than the reverse.
- Secondly, the evidence I’ve seen from unconditional cash transfer payments suggests that the worries about them being squandered are not realized. Most people will use money to make their lives better. Indeed, there is some evidence that most poor people suddenly presented with what amounts to capital will become capitalists. This is surely a good thing.
This doesn't really have anything to do with UBI, but I think one of the biggest reasons I've gone from an ultra conservative person (I was a Limbaugh listening, Fox News watching conservative) to one who makes a concerted effort to filter politics from issues is the constant need for ideologues to express outrage. It's like they go through life looking for reasons to be p***ed off at people that don't approach the world the same as they do.
As much as we like to think our accomplishments are special and our success a byproduct of our worldview, that isn't always the case. Studies show that college graduates from affluent families are much likelier to enjoy higher income than their middle class counterparts with college degrees.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/soci...-degree-is-worth-less-if-you-are-raised-poor/
It isn't always about prudent choices and hard work. It helps and certainly increases your chances in life, but it doesn't negate the fact that the majority of people born into wealth will remain wealthy and the majority of people born into poverty will remain poor. As much as we want to believe any success we glean out of life is on the backs of our amazing work ethics and prudent choices, evidence suggests that the situation we're born into plays the largest role.
