Elon Musk showed interest in an idea that would guarantee a $5,000 payment, or 'DOGE Dividend,' to every American to show off the $55 billion in taxpayer funds saved.
Leaving aside how often theyve been proven by their own numbers to be lying about their totals, it’s not even complicated math that you’re getting bamboozled by.
Hell, you don’t even need to do the math, you could logic your way out of this pretty easily.
Did you pay $5000 in federal taxes minus FICA last year? Did you pay $25k?
What happened the last time these idiots turned on a money printer?
Will these “savings” be disbursed every year? You’re not getting the services that apparently cost 5x as much anymore.
Why not start a $25k yearly UBI if they aren’t lying about the savings? The science is incredibly clear, it’d pay for itself, make even more programs unnecessary, and end homelessness overnight. Not to mention kick the economy into overdrive.
What does Elon, crypto enthusiast, have to gain from another round of inflation? Or the owner class in general, whose wealth is tied into inflation-resistant property?
No, I won’t be burning the check in a pointless gesture of defiance.
I’ll be buying guns and ammo with it for the collapse.
I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you of all people, but I have as well and as strange as it may sound to people who haven’t, there is a certain proportion of the homeless population which is homeless by choice. It’s not a large proportion, but it’s not that small either.
It’s a chicken and egg problem with many schizophrenic and borderline homeless where you can’t tell if they ended up on the street due to mental illness or if living on the street made them mentally ill, but I have personally seen people choose to leave housing projects to go back to the street, and have heard similar stories from others.
That said, of course using this fact as an excuse to not do everything we can to house the majority of homeless who do want homes and to support the ones who don’t in other ways (soup kitchens, clinics, etc and mental health counseling for those who want it) is absurd.
Thank you. I’m glad there is finally someone else in this conversation that has also worked with the homeless.
I don’t know why people don’t think I’m sympathetic to homeless people–actually I do, they are just mad because I didn’t vote for Harris–but I am sympathetic. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to work with them for so many years.
But it’s an addiction/mental illness problem, not an income problem for most homeless.
In fact, it’s very easy to look up too. So I don’t even understand why people here are arguing.
Now, money committed to the overall problem is needed, but UBI to people won’t actually solve the homeless situation for most of that population. Money for programs to help them, and stay with them, etc, WILL. But that’s not what what UBI is, and that is the point I was making.
And here’s the thing that Lemmy needs to know about this situation: Democrats have been in power plenty of times over the years. And the problem still hasn’t been solved. This isn’t a “Republicans caused this mess” problem. BOTH parties have fucked up on addressing this.
But I guess it’s easier for computer nerds who have never had to struggle in life just to say to say that I’m lying when I say I worked with the population for years. That’s easier than actually doing anything about it.
So Lemmy, step up. Dedicate your time and your money to helping the homeless. Then come back to this conversation and tell us what you learned.
Cuz I’m not taking Lemmy seriously. You guys have made $80K + a years since you were fucking 20. You all don’t know shit about the homeless population or what it’s like to work with them.
Not you, Peruvian Skies, I am talking about the other armchair critics in this thread.
In their defense, it is very counterintuitive. “Who would want to live on the streets?” is a perfectly valid question with an obvious answer (nobody) and a different correct answer (people with specific manifestations of mental illness).
I’m in favor of UBI and I’m in favor of specific investments to solve homelessness, which I think should be one of the most urgent topics on any political agenda worth considering. But you are right when you say that these are two completely different issues.
Agreed. I’d love for a politician from either side to approve UBI and work on the homelessness problem. So far, neither the Democrats are Republicans seem very interesting in either of those things.
Because it’s only 20% of the money they have saved from canceling programs. So it’s a big refund to us, that we’ve already paid the gvt.
But you are totally free to donate your 5K check if you don’t believe in it.
Leaving aside how often theyve been proven by their own numbers to be lying about their totals, it’s not even complicated math that you’re getting bamboozled by.
Hell, you don’t even need to do the math, you could logic your way out of this pretty easily.
Did you pay $5000 in federal taxes minus FICA last year? Did you pay $25k?
What happened the last time these idiots turned on a money printer?
Will these “savings” be disbursed every year? You’re not getting the services that apparently cost 5x as much anymore.
Why not start a $25k yearly UBI if they aren’t lying about the savings? The science is incredibly clear, it’d pay for itself, make even more programs unnecessary, and end homelessness overnight. Not to mention kick the economy into overdrive.
What does Elon, crypto enthusiast, have to gain from another round of inflation? Or the owner class in general, whose wealth is tied into inflation-resistant property?
No, I won’t be burning the check in a pointless gesture of defiance.
I’ll be buying guns and ammo with it for the collapse.
I’d be totally fine with that.
You’ve obviously never worked with the homeless community. Trust me, it would NOT end homelessness. lol
This dude has never worked with the homeless.
Are you referring to me or the other person. Because I did. For a little over 4 years in a paying position, and 3 years in a volunteering position.
Have you worked with them?
I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you of all people, but I have as well and as strange as it may sound to people who haven’t, there is a certain proportion of the homeless population which is homeless by choice. It’s not a large proportion, but it’s not that small either.
It’s a chicken and egg problem with many schizophrenic and borderline homeless where you can’t tell if they ended up on the street due to mental illness or if living on the street made them mentally ill, but I have personally seen people choose to leave housing projects to go back to the street, and have heard similar stories from others.
That said, of course using this fact as an excuse to not do everything we can to house the majority of homeless who do want homes and to support the ones who don’t in other ways (soup kitchens, clinics, etc and mental health counseling for those who want it) is absurd.
Thank you. I’m glad there is finally someone else in this conversation that has also worked with the homeless.
I don’t know why people don’t think I’m sympathetic to homeless people–actually I do, they are just mad because I didn’t vote for Harris–but I am sympathetic. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to work with them for so many years.
But it’s an addiction/mental illness problem, not an income problem for most homeless.
In fact, it’s very easy to look up too. So I don’t even understand why people here are arguing.
Now, money committed to the overall problem is needed, but UBI to people won’t actually solve the homeless situation for most of that population. Money for programs to help them, and stay with them, etc, WILL. But that’s not what what UBI is, and that is the point I was making.
And here’s the thing that Lemmy needs to know about this situation: Democrats have been in power plenty of times over the years. And the problem still hasn’t been solved. This isn’t a “Republicans caused this mess” problem. BOTH parties have fucked up on addressing this.
But I guess it’s easier for computer nerds who have never had to struggle in life just to say to say that I’m lying when I say I worked with the population for years. That’s easier than actually doing anything about it.
So Lemmy, step up. Dedicate your time and your money to helping the homeless. Then come back to this conversation and tell us what you learned.
Cuz I’m not taking Lemmy seriously. You guys have made $80K + a years since you were fucking 20. You all don’t know shit about the homeless population or what it’s like to work with them.
Not you, Peruvian Skies, I am talking about the other armchair critics in this thread.
In their defense, it is very counterintuitive. “Who would want to live on the streets?” is a perfectly valid question with an obvious answer (nobody) and a different correct answer (people with specific manifestations of mental illness).
I’m in favor of UBI and I’m in favor of specific investments to solve homelessness, which I think should be one of the most urgent topics on any political agenda worth considering. But you are right when you say that these are two completely different issues.
Agreed. I’d love for a politician from either side to approve UBI and work on the homelessness problem. So far, neither the Democrats are Republicans seem very interesting in either of those things.