If you were taxed for and garenteed health care, basic housing, basic food.. Would you still work?
I have seen people in poverty that don't get out of it because they would lose these benefits if they started making money. So, what if we made the basics available to every one, would you settle for just enough to eat and take the basics, or would you work so you could get better food, tv, internet, cell phone, presents for birthdays or holidays, etc? What would you do! These are guaranteed weather you don't work, work some or a lot.
Politics - 20 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Hence the great fallacy with socialism...
2 :
I've known many people who quit their job so that they still qualify for benefits that are worth more than what they could make working. I worked with a SSgt in the Marines that would tell me stories about the "Toy for Tots" program where people would come into his office and demand an xbox or playstation. These programs a are for the needy and you always have people exploiting the system. If there needy how do they expect to buy the $50 dollar games. A welfare state breeds laziness.
3 :
it's called the iron triangle, if you offer any free services for people of low income, there will ALWAYS be people who would rather stay in poverty for free stuff then get out.
4 :
I would do the opposite of what you are proposing. I would stop welfare and make people pay for their own necessities.
5 :
I would still work because I like more than just the basics.... I don't want to be forced to shop for clothes at walmart when I can afford to shop at Dior... Those people don't know what they are missing.....
6 :
of course i would most people would to
7 :
that sonunds kinda nice but what would i do if i had everything given to me?. I think that would be kinda old and boring. i'd rather find a job that i'd like and be poor then to have someone just give me what i need.
8 :
There is no way in this uber-consumer society that people will stop trying to make money or buy things. You expose the lie very well.
9 :
I would not want anything provided for me. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST I would want to work.
10 :
Yes, because I : 1. want more than just basics 2. take pride in the job i do and the prestige i have by doing it. 3. Like to have fun that is above and beyond any basics. i love how every right-winger thinks their name is Nostradamus when it comes to this issue. There will always be people around that will abuse any system. The rich and the poor do it now, it will not change if you give out the basic necessities of life. It will just lower the amount we have to spend on law enforcement.
11 :
I think you have hit on part of the problem with our current system... we take away too many benefits too quickly when someone actually does start to work. A lot of poor people can't afford to work. As far as providing 'the basics', I would work regardless of what was provided because I like the work I do. I would probably work less and volunteer more if I didn't need to earn enough to pay for private health insurance!
12 :
Yes, because I, like the vast majority, want more. All societies, cultures, and countries have their dead beats. I live in China, and even China has its dead beats. =============== Life is so simple, but we insist on making it complicated Confucius 551 - 479 BC =============== Peace Jim my web site: http://www.ChinaBlix.com .
13 :
I'll turn your question around. Prisoners are guaranteed health care, basic housing, basic food, laundry service, free stamps for mailing & even cable tv. Therefore, the question becomes would you commit a crime in order to go to prison to gain these "benefits"??? Personally, I think everyone has the freewill & ability to choose their personal work ethic & standard of living. Some people have an ingrained sense of hardwork ethic while others are eternal moochers just looking for a hand out. There are 9 trillion people on this planet, so it's not shocking that everyone is different in their decision on what's the best lifestyle for themselves.
14 :
Yes, I would still work, otherwise, you just get fat and lazy. Soon our entire earnings will be sent to the federal government, to be divvied up among the little piggies.
15 :
they would work only if benefit-from-work minus benefit-from-government is positive and highly significant. so minimum wage earners would probably prefer welfare while engineers and the like prefer to work.
16 :
When you spoil a child, the child become dependent upon the parent. When the parent dies, or loses income, or goes bankrupt (like where or government is going), then the spoiled child is screwed. It doesn't know how to survive because it has never had to. This is how our country has become. Those who do nothing but mooch on the government have no idea how to survive. Or choose not to try. I would still work. It is important. I don't like the thought of other people paying for me.
17 :
Yes I would. Universal Health Care and other basic necessities won't stop the majority of people from working, The only thing it will change will be those who stay on welfare because they can't afford to survive on minimum wage without assistance. Even if I was guaranteed health care, basic housing, food etc, I would work. But the only difference is that instead of working at a job I hate just because it's a higher salary/better benefits, I'd get a job in a field I love, even if it doesn't pay as much, if the basic necessities were covered. I'm sure a lot of people are of this mindset. For example, the field of teaching, because of its lower salary range is not a preferred career choice for many people. But if I did not have to worry about health care, housing and food bills, then I'd go into teaching because I love kids.
18 :
If you don't work you have no funds from which to pay your taxes. Accordingly you'd have to work in order to be able to pay the taxes that fund the services you receive. If nobody worked there would be no way to pay for the services and we'd all go without. What is more, people have to work in order to provide those services that we all need, so again we have to work. The biggest flaw in the system that keeps people dependent on social services is the income limits that are so low that they cannot get a job and still keep the benefits (such as housing, health care, child care) that they need to keep them going until they can get a leg up. Therefore they end up trapped and unable to break free. The system is broken and we need to fix it. While some people would be perfectly content to do nothing all their lives, most prefer to be productive and contribute.
19 :
I'd still do something, but nothing as hard or stressful. Of course, pay would drop and so would government revenue needed to pay for my housing and healthcare.
20 :
That ridiculous offer was made countless times by places like the Soviet Union. It never works. It also REQUIRES people to go to work. Who would MAKE and PROVIDE all the freebies? You don't have the option of NOT working in a communist system, which is what you are describing. Oddly in a socialist system, like we have in the US and throughout Europe, you get what you described: people who just TAKE and TAKE instead of working. However, when we got "welfare reform" in the '90s we saw what all clear-thinking people knew from the start: this behavior is a result of GOVERNMENTAL POLICIES, not "need." We were assured that the number of homeless would skyrocket, we'd have people dying in the streets, etc. What a crock. We saw a massive decline in illegitimate births. We saw people getting off their butts and getting a job. We saw people learning a trade or going to school or just doing so well on the job that they got promoted or at least earned more money. Able-bodied people, educated or not, can and SHOULD work. Period. There is no legit reason to force others to work FOR someone who is not doing squat for himself and CAN. The seriously disabled or seriously ill should NOT be expected to work a full 40-hour (or more) job. We don't demand 2-year-olds work either--when you CAN not it's a world apart from WILL not. If you made work optional you would see a giant increase in bums AND the bums would spend their energy demanding the workers GIVE them more--the idea of WORKING for what they want will not be "fair" and will not occur to them. You'd also see a huge increase in criminal activity where bums would just take what they want from those who work. You would also see a complete absense of gratitude on the part of bums for what they were GIVEN. Part of the reason is no decent person could possibly respect himself if he is just a bum. Again, VAST difference between ABLE to work and won't and CAN'T work and the two should never be confused
Read more discussions :
