So opined my older brother once long ago, explaining his decision to move from Michigan to another state very far south. I thought about that this morning, when directed from Wendy McElroy’s blog to this…interesting item…
The stage is now set for a basic income for all
The subtitle reads, “It seems Canada is finally ready to have an adult conversation about the possibility of introducing a guaranteed annual income”, which led me to wonder how one goes about having an “adult” conversation on that topic unless we’ve agreed beforehand that we shall all sit around mocking it. Personally – full disclosure – I thought a “guaranteed annual income” was a wonderfully egalitarian idea … back when I was seventeen or so. And haven’t thought so since.
I wonder, though – is this a resurrection of the old “Social Credit” thing?
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*With apologies to MJR, who gives the impression of sufficient intelligence…
The key to that temperature thing is not going out into it naked. The Canadians have come up with many interesting (Chinese sense) ideas, but do not seem to learn much from the results. What was that old definition of insane again?
All attempts to take more and more away from productive people… for whatever reason, simply results in fewer and fewer productive people. At least any who will leave themselves vulnerable.
This is actually not a new subject, not even in Washington DC! Just look up “Negative Income Tax”, a concept advocated by no other that Milton Friedman himself. Surprisingly, there have been at least four large-scale USA experiments with the concept. If you have time to read all 200++ pages, here is an analysis of them: https://www.bostonfed.org/economic/conf/conf30/conf30.pdf
If 200 pages is too much, here is the bottom line:
“The fact that the findings of the income maintenance experiments
undercut rather than supported the case for a negative income tax is not
a bad outcome. While it is no doubt of little comfort to the originators of
these experiments, this outcome speaks well for the integrity of large scale
social experiments.”
Joel you don’t have to apologize to me for the fact that I reside in a “socialist paradise” run by bone heads. To say that I don’t like the cretins in power is a gross understatement. I became so disaffected with the system last year that I went Galt. I managed to pay off all of our debts and took an early retirement. Ironically may wife’s and my total income now is less that what we were paying in tax but with no debts it’s OK.
As for the article it ranks with the “we have to have universal day car or the world will perish” crowd. This comes up every election and platitudes are spoken then it goes away. With the universal income thing cooler heads will prevail eventually. For now however I see Canada going down the path of Venezuela which is what I am prepping for. The biggest problem with the buttheads in Ottawa is they have been out of power for a few years and “Baby Doc” Trudeau is young, inexperienced and listening to the various special interest groups IE moochers. These things together are like handing whisky and car keys to teen boys. Pray for us, we are gonna need it.
Care not car… Damn auto correct.
My dear Friend David B King who lived in Wyoming said, after he went on strike many years ago, “There is no peace of mind like that of knowing that you are not supporting parasites.”