Tag Archives: universal basic income

Money From The Government Isn’t Really Free

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On Saturday, Hot Air posted an article about the cost of ‘free money.’ There really isn’t a free lunch.

The article reports:

Some politicians and activists are eager to give you “free” money.       

They call it universal basic income (UBI) — cash for everyone, no strings attached.

Comedian Dave Chappelle thinks UBI would “save my community almost instantly.”

In my new video, UBI activist Conrad Shaw agrees, “You would effectively get rid of extreme poverty immediately.”

He says a UBI will help people “start businesses, fix their homes or invest in sustainable gardens.”

Well, “sustainable gardens” might be nice, but someone still has to make stuff. And that requires work — often difficult work.

When I was young, If I hadn’t needed to work to support myself, I wouldn’t have pushed so hard to overcome my fears, my stuttering and my reluctance to speak publicly. I wouldn’t have become successful. I might have stayed in bed most of the day.

But Shaw disagrees. “I don’t believe you,” he says. “Nobody actually wants that … people find their passions not simply because they need to make money.“

The article cites the results of an experiment where people were given a UBI:

It turns out that Sam Altman, the guy behind ChatGPT, helped create such a test. His big study gave 1,000 low-income people $1,000 per month for three years — no strings attached. What happened?

Not the great things that were promised. After three years of getting $1,000/month, UBI recipients were actually a little deeper in debt than before.

Work isn’t always fun, but there is pride in doing a job well. Accepting free money and not having to work does not encourage one to be creative–it encourages one to be lazy and entitled.

The article concludes:

“If we were to get rid of unemployment insurance, food stamps, welfare and all the other insane policies we have, and just have a moderate universal basic income,” says Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, “I think it would be a huge improvement.”

But that will never happen. Anytime anyone tries to cut any government program, people freak out. Imagine trying to cut all welfare.

“The chances politically that will happen are probably zero,” says Miron.

 Progressives want to add UBI to already existing programs.

“Adding more programs is insane!” says Miron. “It will make the entire country melt down. The people who will bear the brunt of that will be people who are poor. The rich will move to other countries … hide their assets. We will have a debt crisis like nobody’s ever seen before.”

 We already have a debt crisis like nobody’s seen before!

 Let’s not make it worse with a UBI.

It Has Never Worked, Why Did They Think It Would Work?

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Fox News posted an article today about Finland’s decision to end its universal basic income program by the end of the year.

The article reports:

The Finnish government reportedly announced Tuesday that it will end the country’s universal basic income program by year’s end — and appears to be taking on new measures to cut benefits to those who do not actively seek employment.

Finland was considered the first European country to pay a monthly check of $685 to its unemployed between ages 25 and 58. It was considered a pilot program — serving 2,000 randomly selected jobless people — that its founders hoped to expand.

…”Proponents said the program wasn’t comprehensive enough to gauge its merits,” Whitley wrote. “Critics say it would have required a 30 percent tax increase on an already over-taxed population to be viable.”

This is a chart showing Finland’s Personal Income Tax Rate. The source is a website called tradingeconomics:

This is what taxes look like under socialism. Consider this–if you are making $15 an hour in Finland, you are making slightly less than $8 an hour after taxes. This is what the conservative members of Congress are trying to avoid. We need to cut spending in America–we need to learn the lesson of socialism–giving people something they did not work for is not a plan for a successful economy.

The critics of the program may have known something that those backing the program did not:

The initial move was met with skepticism from citizens who questioned whether an unemployed young person would be motivated to find a job if they were making a steady income, albeit small.

“There is a fear that with basic income they would just stay at home and play computer games,” Heikki Hiilamo, a professor at the University of Helsinki, told the paper.

The problem isn’t really socialism as much as it is human nature. There is something built into us that generally is not willing to work for something we can get for free.