Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash | Hacker News Reader

Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash

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20 pointslucgommans8 comments

Overly brief summary for those who can't watch the video with sound: it might seem that 'the poor' make bad choices and therefore they don't have money. However, research shows that this is not the case and that a basic income would help the rich and the poor alike.

Personal thoughts: the speaker presents the research as unequivocal and while I don't completely believe that we have enough data just yet, I do think these are some very strong indicators that we really should be giving this a try, either regional or country-wide, in one of the more pioneering countries. According to the speaker, in the end it should save money rather than cost money, so it sounds like it should be possible if we can get the political will together.

Some people are simply better or worse at allocating capital than others. Similarly, some people are just better at math than others.

Have you watched the video?

I don't have the data to prove you right or wrong, but it does seem contrary to what the presenter states without giving a convincing argument why they are wrong.

Well, people who have capital at all are certainly better at it than people who have none.

Surely, for these two hypothetical people, this sentence rests on where the original capital came from? The world is not an even playing field. you can be born into wealth as well as be born into poverty. And inherit either too.

If you have no capital to allocate, then I'm not sure what difference that makes.

Haven't watched the video, so no idea if this got mentioned, but I've also heard about research that showed that some very season-dependent farmers in India, who were quite rich part of the year, but for some reason quite poor the other part of the year, actually had their IQ fluctuate measurably between the rich and poor periods.

So poor people do make bad choices, but they make those bad choices because of their poverty. Not only does a lack of money mean you don't have the means to invest in the future, the stress caused by poverty actually hurts your ability to plan ahead.

So removing that poverty (through basic income or some other measure) could end up solving a lot of societal ills.

Yes, that's one of the examples in the video, but thanks for sharing anyway :)

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