Hacker News Reader

Comment by MaricopaArizona | Hacker News Reader

Has anybody studied the outcomes on American Indian reservations from having basic income guaranteed for generations? I'm not an expert or well-read in this field, but I think anybody advocating basic income would be interested to visit a reservation and observe the lifestyles, dreams, goals, and successes found there.

View on HN

This is a damning critique of having a basic income. Some of the saddest places I've been to are Indian reservations in the U.S. They were sadder than the poorest parts of Ecuador.

The effects of welfare on Australian aborigines are pretty sad too. A good proportion of the young sit around drinking all day. The aboriginal elders hate it but ironically it seems to continue because it could be considered racist to treat the aboriginals differently from laid off office workers in Sydney for welfare purposes.

It's not welfare that makes life suck for Aborigines. A lot of the problem is from being considered outsiders by the wider society they live in. Take away the welfare from the drunken troublemakers and they're not going to magically turn into middle-class professionals. The whole situation is incredibly difficult and complex, and to lay it at the feet of "welfare did this to them" is doing a disservice.

Yes but many are in pretty barren places to begin with. Being in a poor small town in the middle of nowhere with no possiblity of work beyond welfare, is different to being in a city with jobs available.

Very interesting suggestion. I'm also not too familiar with the field, but it seems that most benefits are non-cash (e.g. health and housing), and cash grants tend to be <$1k/year [1]. I would guess there are many other reasons for the issues they face, particularly lack of integration into the broader economy.

As a counterexample, the Alaska Permanent Fund [2] is very popular, and economists have found it keeps thousands out of poverty.

[1] http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_Fund

Reply on news.ycombinator.com