Comments by "Scott Franco" (@scottfranco1962) on "Basic income, explained" video.

  1. Taking money from people who earn it (called "taxes"), and passing it out to people who don't is socialism with a new coat of paint. And it has never worked, anywhere, at any time. In fact, when the "war on poverty" by Johnson started, the poverty rate was trending downward, and since then has flattened out. Subsidizing things, including poverty, simply makes more of it.
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  2. Yes, that is the standard socialist answer, "you don't care...". And then socialism increases poverty as a result. Venezuela's program to distribute wealth has resulted in food riots and near starvation in that country. The resources were repeatedly taken "from the rich" by the government, and as a result capitolisim was generally shut down in the country. There is a class of new rich in the country, namely the ones running the government. Chavez's family are rich and live in walled off security compounds, as well as maduro's. Whenever the government promises to redistribute wealth, much of the redistributed wealth end up in the sticky hands of the government. Look south of the border in the latin countries. You will find that the government has up to %50 of the workers. Does the government do anything to create wealth? No, it just runs various programs to regulate and redistribute. How have things changed under Obamas mildly redistributive government? - median household income was down 3 percent as of 2014, and the official poverty rate was 1.6 percentage points higher. - The rate of home ownership has dropped to the lowest point in nearly half a century. - The federal debt owed to the public has more than doubled — up 107 percent. (according to factcheck.org). And in fact both Obama and HRC have cited the need to grow government employment to counter poverty and joblessness.
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  3. National Review had an article that covers the conservative point of view far better than I ever could: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259761/against-negative-income-tax-jim-manzi I recommend this for readers interested in the subject.
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