Yah...I can't remember exactly when I saw Money Masters, but it was before YouTube started up. I used to watch WinAmp TV and one morning I saw this "conspiracy" channel that happened to be showing it. Blew my mind, I have to admit, and probably planted the seeds which have led me to the current pursuits I am engaged in.
I don't think the guaranteed income idea is "utopian". All it does is provide a basic floor from which many of the negative externalities imposed by poverty are eliminated.
That alone helps to assuage several problems in society which indirectly saves money.
I suppose it can be considered a shift in spending...
Another approach is the idea suggested by Professor Steve Keen (among others) of the "debt jubilee", which would also have a positive net effect if enacted. But the income base would be more forward-looking especially in light of the technological push (and globalization) causing a literal gutting of necessary labour from developed economies.
I don't know what "responsibility" has to do with it. Could you elaborate?
As for the killing, looting, etc., I've heard others say that as well in application to the US. I don't like that idea, though...it is the solution of Neanderthals and eugenicists.
There are better paths to travel down...
The reason you give people a minimum income each year is so that they can take care of themselves with it. Things like heathcare, rent, food, utilities. The extra money they earn with a job can buy them the things they want , but don't necessarily need , things like the Gucci Purse, Brooks Brothers Shirts, 5th car, Yacht, Sailboat etc. etc.
The problem with people is that they are not responsible so instead of paying their utilities and rent with their basic income, they instead decide to bet it on race horses, or spend it all on booze or drugs. Once the booze and drugs run out or the horses fail to win, the person is left with nothing and cannot afford to feed himself or pay rent or stay warm in the winter. Now someone either needs to pay for those things for him, leading us right back to where we are now, or the person starves and freezes.
The reason we have all these programs now is because people are not responsible for themselves, if you just give them money they will piss it away.
UC did a study in San Diego on the homeless people there, they gave them $2,000 a month, clothes, a car and a apartment and helped them find employment. Once the 2 year program was over, every single person was back to living on the street.
