This isn't completely my own idea, it's inspired by something similar I saw on House of Cards. The idea is that nobody will receive social support for free unless they're mentally or physically unable to perform physical labor. I have no idea how much a person receives in welfare but for the sake of the argument let's say it's 200$/week. The government will set up factories where they make products that are commonly imported from other countries. Like clothes, combs, tooth brushes, etc. The merchandise will be sold in stores set up by the gov. "If you want to support your country buy from this store instead of buying Chinese made products at that other store" All the revenue goes to a fund set up to improve education, infrastructure, after school activities and anything that will improve society as a whole. A shift is six hours long, five days a week. Salary will be 6,66$/hr. They work six hours so they still have time to find a real job and take care of their families. But they work too much to run around town abusing drugs and getting in trouble. In the long run crime will decrease, productivity will increase, workers will become experienced and motivated. Any crimes other than rape, murder and a few others, would instead of prison land you a job. In this case you'd be paid a lot less. Say 3$/hour. And maybe be forced to live in some sort of half way house. This does not apply if the court finds it likely that the defendant might seek revenge or cause any harm to a specific person(s) or in the case of a repeat offender on their third offense. Also decriminalize all drugs. In case of possession you'll be sent to mandatory rehab. One week the first time, three weeks the second, 6 weeks on the third - and it keeps increasing that way. This does not apply to cannabis usage.
If the government provided jobs to people who need them, instead of money, we might have a system that wasnt heading for bankruptcy The issue is that we are giving away free stuff to people who aren't producers. Its a net drain on the system -yuri
I see what you're trying to do there, but that has even less ability to work than your free energy designs.
rofl. if you don't work you don't get money. go stand in the soup kitchen line. I believe most welfare recipients want a job. and even if only 30% play ball it's still a huge improvement. like Yuri said, giving poor ppl money for nothing is unsustainable. Especially in a world were machines and robots keep replacing humans.
You are joking right? They are leeches. Takers. They.voted themselves free money so they wouldn't have to work... I'm.guessing you don't know many welfarians -yuri
I agree with your sentiments. What doesn't work about it (that model anyway) is that you'd have to pay them the legal minimum wage for the state they were in, which is more than the amount you suggest, but also WAY more than the people making those products overseas. These imaginary American sweatshop workers would also be eligible for benefits which those 4 year olds in Vietnam making Nikes aren't. Yes it is.
According to http://www.unionofunemployed.com/blog 18 million are unemployed and 4,2mil aren't looking for a job. By those numbers we can assess that 4,2 million are happily jobless meanwhile the others are ready to work.
Good point. But even if you increase the number to 12-15$ (incl. benefits) the good still outweighs the bad. Don't forget about profits. The government should start their own brand name products and compete with the big ones like Nike.
Around 80 billion dollars spent annually on prisoners. edit : rehab instead of prison worked wonders in Portugal.
I only agree if the rehab is voluntary. It should never be illegal in ingest any substance in to one's own body. That includes all drugs.
Actually I agree. I'm a social libertarian ffs dunno why I added tht. Maybe cause it's easier for the general populace to digest? Meh, I retract tht point.
You cant live on that crappy wage you posted. Increase minimum wage each year like Australia. Each year their minimum hourly wage gets increase. As of july of 2014 its at $16.87. I bet more can be done when were talking about increasing quality of life, by increasing minimum wage, and helping reduce the poverty line. Of course it doesnt help, when the banks are actively screwing you out of your money by artificially increasing inflation, and reducing the purchasing power of your dollar. And you want people who are on welfare to actually have less money. Great logic. Ben Bernanke would love to meet you. Furthermore, what is also backwards is how you treat criminals, by penalizing them for their poor life choices, you make it harder for them to make a normal living outside of lucrative crime life that nets them enough money. A lot of people go into crime because they are unable to make sufficient money to even just cover basic life expenses, so instead of helping people with that you think they should make $3/hr?
I think a lot of the problem lies in how certain people perceive the concept of 'welfare'. For starters private banks and corporations receive way more bailouts and contracts using the same 'welfare money' and you want to drown people who are already in debt with more debt. A lot of people who dont favour the welfare system seem to be under the impression that all welfare recipients are lazy bums with drug habits. Ive met many people who dont fit that description at all. You cant possibly group a bunch people together in this manner simply because its incredibly easy to do so. Its both intellectually lazy and dishonest, and shortsighted. I like the general idea, especially trying to reform a criminal instead of sending the person to prison, I do think wage is the biggest issue there. Sticking a gun to someone's head or using physical force or coercion in an attempt to 'help' an individual with drug addiction is also plain stupid. There is no 'solution' that will work with everyone, especially one that uses force instead of words and ideas and making the individual person understand. In other words, if said person isn't voluntarily going into rehab, chances are that person is not ready for that sort of treatment, or may never respond to it, forcing that person isnt going alter the way the person analyzes information.
I'm sorry, are you speaking to me or the current prison system? Mine is a lot more humane. When they're in prison they're caged like animals, traumatized, terrorirzed, psychologically altered, they're having a piece of their lives taken away from them (time) and we're all standing on the outside not protesting but thinking they deserve it --- because of their poor life choices. But in my utopia magnetic generators would produce electricity and prisoners would be penalized by giving up 5 hours of their day, four days a week. Time which they'll be compensated for. Time of which the other 19 hours they'll be free to study, work, spend time with family and making a change. The minimum is 5 hours 4 days a week. Top is 10 hours, 6 days a week. So you can speed up your sentence by working harder. Armed robbery = 200 hours, Driving with a suspended license = 30 weeks, Extortion = 250 hours, Battery = 70 hours etc. And the jobs for the convicts are shittier than the jobs for the welfare recipients, it's the type of job the others complain about - cause it's still a punishment. Since they're unchained they'll be able to buy and consume thus adding to the economy. If only 1 million of the 2,66 million incarcerated persons were free there would be higher demand on just about everything. If they're already on welfare it will be reduced to 5$, you're supposed to pay your debt to society after all. Unless they have a family or special circumstances it will be raised due. They shouldn't be starving because they're already receiving the est. 13/hr for their job at the factory, making tennis balls or driving a forklift - instead of giving them a free welfare check. I know but I'm not a dictator in this scenario. Am I the only one with any sense of realism (no offense). I'm speaking to an audience, one which doesn't look kindly on giving poor people 3,000$/month. Which btw I would do if I were a dictator. 1,000 in cash, and 2,000 in coupons that can only be used to purchase products made within the country. Why not give them a lot of money if tht money is going to pull a 180 right back into the system. And create jobs! edit : I can't legalize all drugs because the people wouldn't like that. Not a dictator.
You will have to convince millions of people why they should pay a lot more the same exact thing. People will say "I already support my country by obeying its laws and paying my taxes. We are already on a tight budget as it as and we have so many expenses, why should I pay more money for basic things?"
That's a large percent still. That's almost 25% of people on welfare, who are perfectly happy being moochers. Assuming those numbers are accurate. -yuri
Those products won't be more expensive because they're made by people on whom money is already being spent. So the government won't lose more money than they're already losing by providing welfare. And the prices on the products will be as low as imported because money won't be taken from the products to pay the workers.