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What if we gave everyone room, board and free medical care? A new deal 2018 !
invite response
2013 Oct 27, 5:45am 16,410 views 41 comments
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SunnyvaleCA
2020 Aug 4, 3:12pm
Why not just go with Andrew Yang type "freedom dividend" — $1000/month to spend however you like. Let the government hand out money and then get the heck out of the way to allow free market forces to decided how to efficiently allocate housing, food, etc. That would make a lot more sense than government spending just as much money but then introducing all sorts of terrible ideas and inefficiencies by taking on the task of building and running housing, food, etc.
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Suppose congress, or even just one of the fifty states, decides that effective June 1, 2018 it will provide three meals a day at government cafeterias (these could be set up in or near most workplaces or could offer to go boxes for those who need them) a place for everyone to sleep with clean water for drinking and bathing (some places may be dormitory style), clothing if needed (think blue jumpsuits), and medical care at government owned and operated facilities.
Everything else would remain as it is today. If you don't like your government rations of food, you can use the free market. If you don't like the government provided blue jumpsuits you can buy your own clothes. If you don't want to live in the dorms you can find your own place to live. If you don't like the nurse practitioner at the government medical clinic you can pay for a visit to a privately owned medical provider and/or continue to use your employers health insurance plan.
The point is that we need to give people a true choice between using the nanny state or being independent. Now some people might opt to live rent free in government housing but continue to use their own medical plan, or buy their own apartment but take part in the food rations Uncle Sam provides. But at least everyone would have a choice and no one would even have to work in order to obtain their basic necessities.
Naturally it would be easier for the US congress to do this because they could run deficit spending indefinitely (according to current thought and practice) to fund the cost of housing, food and sheltering every man, woman and child in the country.
And certainly there would still be a huge incentive for people to work and earn a living to buy things like cell phones, cars, opera and football tickets, baby strollers and mountain bikes. And the well to do would still work to maintain their lifestyle while the less affluent would have a motivation to shed the blue jumpsuit and make their own way in the world. And yet some would be content to just live in the dorms, wear the blue jumpsuits and eat their government rations. But at least everyone would have a choice and all would have their basic needs met yet no one would get a free cell phone.
I call this the 21st century new deal. It's time has come. Lets do this America!
#housing