re: How do we change the culture of bad decision-making?

i'd be down with that but i think over time the overall culture will reduce/eliminate any positive reinforcement

it's like the whole problem with education. we've been spending tens of millions of dollars every year on just promoting education in these areas and it has no real impact b/c of the culture at issue. same reason why head start doesn't work

Everyone gets the same amount. Everyone

The value covers the basic costs of living

Of course to balance it, it will be taxed

Maybe they don't value education because it doesn't teach anything of value to them? They don't need to know algebra or shakespeare or how to interpret symbolism in "The Scarlet Letter". They desperately need to know how to manage credit, pay taxes, apply to jobs, rent an apartment, get a loan, buy a car, etc.

Let's be honest, the only reason any of us cared about school was because we wanted a good job. We knew that good grades meant we could go to college, and a college degree meant a good paying job. We wanted that job so we could support ourselves and a future family and have a home for ourselves.

People on entitlements don't want or need jobs because entitlements give them the means to provide for themselves and their families without one, and entitlements punish you for having a job. If you don't need a job, why would you care about doing well? If you don't care about doing well? Why care at all? Public high schools teach very very little information useful to a citizen outside of a school environment. Maybe if we taught more useful info instead of just how to pass asinine standardized tests, maybe if we taught kids things they actually want to know, then they would want to show up to learn it. Maybe they would care.

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it's like the whole problem with education. we've been spending tens of millions of dollars every year on just promoting education in these areas and it has no real impact b/c of the culture at issue. same reason why head start doesn't work

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Well I think a lot of it is because we throw all the resources into the school, as if they are the primary problem. And we need to also acknowledge that maybe some of those issues are uncontrollable (can't make people more intelligent), so we need to work maximizing the potential, rather than worrying about minimizing gaps.

And head-start does at least have positive effects on social and emotional functioning. Which is probably because those are more easily changeable, whereas academically, there are developmental and cognitive constraints.

this is one of those impossible questions to answer because I don't know how you change a culture without being in that culture

throwing more money at it isn't going to help, that has been proven time and time again

what generates societal shifts? it has to start somewhere, but it has to start somewhere from within that culture

preaching from the outside is viewed as just that...preaching

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it doesn't have to involve racism

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True, I was generalizing. Then again, according to some, white people don't know what it means to be poor. But I digress, back to the issue.

Like a few have already said, much of it stems from mitigating the consequences of bad decision-making. No matter how much you screw yourself financially, the government will be there to ensure you don't die of starvation with "free" handouts.

These people either willingly choose to spend their "free" money on things they don't need or lack the common sense to think "gee, I should probably ensure my kids have all their school supplies before I spend hundreds of dollars on high priced things I don't really need."

We need more control over how they're allowed to spend money given to them by the government. Food stamps only for certain foods, welfare only for clothing/electronics below a certain value, no cigarettes or alcohol, etc.

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because I don't know how you change a culture without being in that culture

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well this brings up the meta point: why do we accept this culture and not marginalize it out of existence?

you don't see these same issues in Europe. it is possible to exist without an underclass/poverty culture

I said it would cover the basics.

UBI has to be balanced (more or less) with taxation.

it will, by necessity, increase both taxation levels and government transfers but the net will be small.

it will reduce much of the existing welfare costs and that will reduce some of the cash flow but cash will still flow downwards.

Any discussion revolving around changing the culture of poverty is largely a waste of time.

Give them all money and forget it. No other entitlements

Why can't we have both? Why does everyone need to read Romeo and Juliet 3 times? Why do we need to analyze poetry every year? Why don't we have more than 9 weeks of civics?

The issue is that we're pushing the illusion of academic lesson at the expense of practical knowledge.

We can have tracking for those who want it. Not everyone needs to be an academic. It's ok to want to be a welder. They shouldn't be required to take a given track, but they should have the option.

However, there are vital skills that every citizen needs to know just to exist in our society that are not being taught in schools. Parents can't teach them because most parents don't know it either. Ignorance of these important skills can cause people to set their lives up for failure before they're even old enough to vote. That is not right. We can do so much better.

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I said it would cover the basics.

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but i need an amount to run the numbers as a % of our GDP

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Give them all money and forget it. No other entitlements

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but UBI is going to cost a LOT more than what we spend on welfare

every estimate i've seen said it would be more expensive than our entire current welfare system (that includes both Medicaid and Medicare). i don't see how we afford UBI while adding UHC. there literally isn't enough money in our economy