81–90 of 127 posts
Aren't those basic income experiments kind of useless? Giving people money for a limited time doesn't give them the notion, that they can rely on the money supply for the rest of their lives. They still have to earn an equivalent sum once the supply stops and make their decisions accordingly.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The world is not a zero sum game and handing out free money is a proven concept - as long as the recipients are big firms and banks... you already forgot the "financial crisis" and the entire last decade? Money does not work in such simplistic ways except for on a tiny scale, for example within the circle of family and friends. Already when you take out a credit your sentence becomes untrue: Debt is created by commer…
>The world is not a zero sum game This is only true as long as there is economic growth.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be blunt it shows how out of touch those involved are. Firstly they obviously had very little understanding of African / 3rd world culture, secondly they haven't considered what we do when people offer us free stuff. Consider if somebody walked up to you and offered to pay you 6k/mo, you would be insane not to question it. And in a country where "free stuff" doesn't happen, where corruption and entrapment are comm…
You seem to have some axe to grind with GiveDirect. They've already run many Basic Income experiments in many parts of Africa, with great success. The fact that they are hitting some snags in a few counties, doesn't diminish them as an organization in any way.
It seems to me that it is a survival instinct to refuse new things you don't understand from untrusted sources. Damn right that I do. The fact that I have a Western education and many years of Western life experience may mean that the reasoning I come up with is quite a bit better than someone lacking that, but it doesn't over ride a desire to not radically disrupt my current lifestyle - for better or worse - on a blind bet.
Microloans and fair trade are the solutions to poverty in developing countries.
"experts say that Americans –- going back as far as Colonial times, when Elizabethan poor laws were in vogue — have never favored unlimited government handouts that are not contingent upon work."
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/why-do-american...
Personally, I'd also be afraid to start something like that, since it's would end abruptly, and could easily end early if research funding runs out.
Plus, we're all conditioned to know there's no free lunch - someone who offers one is probably hiding something. There are probably strings attached, any reasonable person might be forgiven for thinking.
It doesn't seem surprising at all that people in Kenya or elsewhere are skeptical.
I think just as many Americans would refuse basic income too. "experts say that Americans –- going back as far as Colonial times, when Elizabethan poor laws were in vogue — have never favored unlimited government handouts that are not contingent upon work." http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/why-do-american... Personally, I'd also be afraid to start something like that, since it's would end abruptly, and co…
Maybe people really do have an innate sense of ethics that tell them if they're receiving free money, it means it's being taken from somewhere else.
Well that sense would be wrong. Since this is charity. Also it seems like the problem is assuming strings are attached, so more like survival instinct.
I understand why people don't want to take this money. Basically, here in Kenya we're brought up in a way that there is nothing for free, you have to work to get what you want. So someone giving you free money is very suspicious there must be something they want in turn.