Rumors are that Mark Zuckerberg is considering campaigning on it... (If he can actually get out of the gates; he can't, despite the fact he's spending a lot of money to find out the answer as to whether the U.S. wants him to be president. They don't.)
Now, with her new book, Hillary confirmed that she "thought" about campaigning on a $1,000 per month stipend paid to every American as a measure to boost the economy, called:
(Image by Shutterstock, used under license.)
"Alaska For America"
It was based on the fact that Alaskans receive a $1,000-$2,000 yearly check from the Alaska state government as a "dividend" of sorts for the oil reserves being extracted from the land.
Who knows if this plan was serious. Is Hillary grandstanding for 2020, trying to drag down Bernie (she really hates on him in her new book) or did she actually intend to implement this plan if she became President?
(Just kidding - we all know she wasn't serious on actually accomplishing anything. She campaigned on doing nothing, and look what happened: she all lost to a man that almost everyone agrees has no business being President.)
With $20 trillion in debt...
...and more and more people sucking the government teet already than ever before (usually in the form of taking meager "disability payments" when they can't find suitable employment) such a plan might sound extreme and untenable at best, a fast-track to socialism, communism and economic disaster at the worst.
But as you can plainly see, we've already entered a highly divided society of have and have nots. There are many people already (at least 5% of the population) who make welfare shopping their full-time job. More than 20% of the U.S. population already receive "direct" government handouts (in the form of payments and health care benefits.)
That 20% percent excludes social security and medicare recipients, and 43% have used public benefits for 1 year or more.
I'm not talking about those who take disability payments or unemployment after searching for years trying to find some sort of decent job in an economically depressed area.
I'm talking about people who make it their job. They exploit every benefit to its fullest, and their entire goal is to lounge, do nothing, and mooch as much as they can from the system.
The fact is, if you don't work at all, you can already receive what amounts to "Universal Basic Income."
Not just checks in the mail - but subsidies for virtually every essential part of your life, from premium dirt-cheap health insurance to discounted, high-speed internet and cell service, to low-cost and free housing and more.
In fact, with all of the different benefits you're eligible for, you can certainly receive much, much more than the $1,000 per month that UBI would provide if you really know how to "work the system."
The only requirement?
YOU. MUST. NOT. WORK.
When you start working and earning income on your own, all those free goods and services you've been enjoying are torn away in a heartbeat. It's cheaper and far more logical for you not to work (or to hide your wealth from the government by working entirely under the table) than it is for you to earn a little bit of part-time cash at McDonalds.
Universal Basic Income might sound crazy at surface level...
But what's more crazy?
Giving all citizens an equal stipend to use as they please? Or paying people not to work and penalizing them for trying to move up the class ladder?
Abolish the welfare trap.
What do you think?
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