Theft at the Public Till
Guaranteed Income, it would actually be "self-liquidating, meaning it would cost nothing. As people's incomes increased, most of the money would be spent on consumer goods. That would stimulate the economy, creating new jobs, new taxpayers, and new income for the government to replace what was given out." In other words, the multiplier effect would have impact as well as the cashing out of inefficient, corrupt, or redundant programs. Guaranteed income may seem like an exclusively redistributive strategy, but it is also an economic growth strategy predicated on democratic values. Let's face it, one of the reasons the United States introduced the Marshall Plan to rebuild parts of Europe and its counterpart in Japan was to create markets for U.S. goods, services, and technology. For a long time it worked- for all the countries involved. In any event, a socially responsible culture does not cause economic disaster. Giving to older, even wealthier citizens in the form of social security, or to dairy farmers in once supports, is no sweat. Do we stop giving to foreign nations or U.S. seniors or young widows with small children "for their own good?" Do we really even question it? Not on your life. Similarly, if you want to hold the attention of the mass media, breaking the "more than a million" barrier is important. This is why many advo- cates for the homeless still tell reporters and blunders that several million Americans are homeless, even though no careful study has ever yielded an estimate that high. Many reporters who cover the homeless also continue to cite estimates above a million, partly because these estimates bolster their claim to prime time or front-page space. Richard White, the author of Rude Awakenings, describes the repetition of these inflated estimates as "lying for justice." If we concentrate on the people whose existence most worries the public, the "visible homeless" whose presence on the streets upsets the more prosperous classes, we find these are not necessarily the poorest or the most deprived of our fellow citizens. If we look in jails, detox centers, mental hospitals, and foster homes, we can find hundreds of thousands of other Americans surviving without the physical or emotional support we normally associate with having a home. We do not count these people as homeless because they are out of sight. When people contemplate human misery, the cliche that equates out of sight with out of mind is all too accurate.
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