tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737450142880120395.post3140719370925083621..comments2023-10-07T04:04:19.391-07:00Comments on Economystified: A right to "income"? What do you think?Economystifiedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13721219444051369880noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737450142880120395.post-90486151142164515292013-06-15T09:35:36.629-07:002013-06-15T09:35:36.629-07:00I think this is silly, if not dangerous. The last ...I think this is silly, if not dangerous. The last five years of politics in the US and having my own livelihood extremely tied to federal research agencies, like NSF and NASA, means I am incredibly skeptical every time anyone says 'we'll cut some stupid government programs, it'll be fine!', without laying out what those programs are and why cutting them is okay...dwbapsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17606476387441191531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737450142880120395.post-60037689410388580402013-06-15T03:19:05.432-07:002013-06-15T03:19:05.432-07:00Woah Woah Woah!
At one minute into the piece, the ...Woah Woah Woah!<br />At one minute into the piece, the narrator leaps off the page of this important post-WWII era UN treaty and hangs a left (haha pun!) into some self-deliniated "dignified existence". <br /><br />According to this: http://www.easpd.eu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=4A2F4C7078436F44665A633D&tabid=2575&language=en-US&stats=false "Social and health services are of great economic relevance: they employ about 11% of the total European workforce".<br /><br />In 2010, 16.4% of the total EU population (80 mil) live below the poverty threshold - www.inequalitywatch.eu<br /><br />The most important proposition of this plan would be to clean up the bloated social service delivery network. If we estimate (guess) that 10% of the resources associated with "social and health services" are the costs of delivering the redundant social programs that would be cut, how much cash are we really talking about? I doubt it even comes close to letting 80 million people become "Artists, volunteers, and parents" like the video proposes. Let alone the employees of that former social delivery network who now could also become "Artists, volunteers, and parents"<br /><br />These proposed cost savings and income streams are valid. Tax the rich, tax what strangles us, and eliminate waste. By all means we must embrace the tenets of the UDHR but understand it for what it is. Section 25 is a FLOOR, not a ladder. <br /><br />I am a retailer by trade and from my perspective, money only buys dignity on paper. Welfare checks, on the other hand, too often buy glittery purple resin dragons, dream catchers, and ash trays.Timmyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06522006152504236762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737450142880120395.post-6974086678861968302013-06-14T20:00:45.847-07:002013-06-14T20:00:45.847-07:00From a purely philosophical standpoint, it does so...From a purely philosophical standpoint, it does sound silly & idealistic until you realize how many programs (as you point out) already to this -- and you don't even bother to mention the ways we directly transfer dollars, like unemployment. Even Krugman seemed to come out in favor of this broad petition recently: http://nyti.ms/19B1aII<br /><br />Personally, I'm skeptical of labeling a lot of things a basic human right that requires redistribution, and just not infringing on others. You have a fundamental right to be able to have things, but not a right to be given things. It may be a good idea to have redistribution programs, and be morally correct, but I don't think that means it's a fundamental human right. <br /><br />As for the proposed policy change, there's lots of reasons to be doubtful. You make a great point about how it's more efficient to provide many things. From a policy of view, this would sweep away the complexity of each EU members' programs and simply replace it with an EU wide one -- that means transferring a large amount of money & power from members to the EU, and also means even more money going from places like Germany to places like Greece. Does how we think about unemployment insurance require revamping? Absolutely. Could many EU members benefit from simplifying their programs? Probably. But this idea isn't yet fully baked, and I'm not sure it ever will be.Andrew Trembleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12341029104618001269noreply@blogger.com