Now another city wants to hand out free money. How much money do you deserve? Why is it that it has never worked?
You may be surprised that I am not against the idea if those who are getting the free money have skin in the game. It might work if that were the case. Let's look at that and see how they could put skin in the game. I will use Finland vs the USA for my comparison. In a prior blog, I gave my list of the types of things that we could all do "for free" so that we all had skin in the game. I will use those here.
(1) Crime
Criminals should be excluded from the free money until they have been law abiding for some reasonable period. I think 10 years would be reasonable. Now look at Finland. They have a fraction of the percentage of criminals in their jails and prisons that the USA does. We have a larger percentage of our people in jail and prison than 99% of countries in the world. If we had the same percentage as Finland, we could apply that money toward the free money program. Notice that it does not cost anything for the individual to obey the law, so there is no reason that everyone should not be able to comply with this provision.
(2) Complete High School
The USA ranks no better than 39th in the world in terms of literacy. Even though our schools are free, we have one of the lowest graduation rates of any country in the world. To complete high school is free so there is no reason for not competing high school. Given that a person's economic worth is a function of their education, it is clear that the average person in Finland is worth more than the average person here in the USA is. Think of how much more money the USA would be able to collect in taxes if we had people who were worth more and thus made more.
(3) Out of Wedlock Births
Here again, the USA has one of the highest rates of out of wedlock births of any advanced country in the world. In the case of Finland, they have one of the lowest out of wedlock birth rates. You might notice that there is no cost to the individual to not have children out of wedlock. This would be a very easy way for anyone to have some skin in the game and thus be a candidate for free money.
(4) Illegal Drug Use
Here is another way that people here in the USA could easily get some skin in the game. Think of the money that people would save by not having to buy illegal drugs. This money would be available to give away as free money. In the case of Finland, they have an almost zero rate of illegal drug use and we have one of the highest.
After looking at the above, it is clear that a country like Finland who scores better than the USA on the 4 items above should have been able to afford their free money program, but they could not! Why then would you ever think that the USA could? The other thing that you might realize is that if the people of the USA had more skin in the game by vertue the 4 items above, very few would need free money for not working. Don't fall for the statement that "the USA is the richest country in the world". If you look at our economy on the basis of the average wealth of the individual, the USA is about 40th! We are not rich, so stop expecting the USA to shell out free money any time soon.
PS--I could have stated that non-citizens and those here illegally should not qualify for free money either. Think of the money that we could save if we were to keep out all illegal immigrants? We could use that to provide some of the free money too! Do you think for a minute that Finland would put up with illegal immigration as we have? No way!
PS--I could have stated that non-citizens and those here illegally should not qualify for free money either. Think of the money that we could save if we were to keep out all illegal immigrants? We could use that to provide some of the free money too! Do you think for a minute that Finland would put up with illegal immigration as we have? No way!
