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Having lived under a communist regime and also in the ghettos of NYC decades ago, I can tell you just how idiotic this is. But I guess there's no shortage of idiotic ideas when you are playing with other people's money.

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What was it about living in NYC ghettos that suggests basic income is a bad idea?

Witnessed the total lack of motivation of people to do anything for themselves. It was the result of the policy at the time. When the policy changed, the behavior also changed. BMI provides no incentives for people to do the right thing, which is to work hard to better themselves. Quite the opposite. By removing any requirements, it enables unmotivated people to just sit on their ass. Nor does it discourage antisocial behavior. Just giving people free money doesn't do that in itself. All it does is set up an expectation of free money.

I believe the best way to spend the money is to help people who work hard to improve themselves, regardless of their income level. The money is given according to the impact of the money. So people with low income would benefit proportionally more because the before and after difference is larger percentage wise.

Edit: The thing that should redistributed is not wealth, but opportunity.

What about making higher education free, do you see benefits in doing that?

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