Search found 817 matches

by jafs
Sun Jun 05, 2016 8:51 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

Thanks.

I like yours a lot :D

Well, there's no gallery available to choose from - maybe I'll just leave it for now.
by jafs
Sun Jun 05, 2016 7:52 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

Relative costs of living. If MG is correct, and the $2500 swiss francs is just above the poverty level income for somebody in switzerland, then it would translate to less than half of that in the US - the US poverty level in 2016 is about $12K/yr. In other words, the equivalent US$ cd would be somew...
by jafs
Sun Jun 05, 2016 6:53 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

Where would you suggest the level be set? According to previous posts, the income level is just barely above the poverty level, and I don't have kids, but know they're pretty expensive, so I'm not sure that about $300/month/child is that high? Especially if this replaces all other programs to help l...
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:38 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

One of his requirements was that people use $3K of their dividend to pay for health insurance.
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:43 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

Where are the other left leaning folks?

Please come back, so I don't feel like the "token liberal" as MG puts it :)
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:39 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

How do I change my avatar?
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:37 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

And, heck, never mind Gates, et. al. My wife and I are in the lower range of middle class - why should the government give us $30K/yr? We don't need it, and haven't earned it in any way that I can tell. That's the whole point, you get it without 'earning' it. How do the people on welfare now 'earn'...
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:56 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

And, heck, never mind Gates, et. al. My wife and I are in the lower range of middle class - why should the government give us $30K/yr? We don't need it, and haven't earned it in any way that I can tell. To reduce the risk of you falling into poverty for whatever reason? That's the whole point. Are ...
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:53 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

I agree about the jobs issue - if there aren't decent jobs available for people, no cd or mi program is going to fix everything by itself. My idea is very different from Obamacare (which is working well in some ways and not as well in others) - I mean directly provided free health care, not insuranc...
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:31 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

i think its a very interesting idea IF you eliminate the welfare state and the bureaucracy, the unintended consequences and the waste that goes with it,.... if you don't then whats the point.. That is exactly the point. It might be perfectly possible for the dividend to be revenue-neutral. Managing...
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:27 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

Your policies keep people trapped in poverty, jafs. I don't know how you don't see that. If the government subsidizes everybody up to $15K, then what incentive is there for somebody who's poor to go and get an entry level job? His pay would be effectively zero. He won't do it. You're creating a hug...
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 2:28 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

C. Murray is the libertarian that I first saw advocating something like this a while back, I think. His proposal involves doing away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a lot of other programs. So I think it's extremely unlikely to get much political traction. Also, I'm not at all sure tha...
by jafs
Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:06 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

I would guess it's for each adult, but I don't know.
by jafs
Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:12 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

That's true, there are places that one could live on for that amount.

But it's quite a bit below the average cost of living, which is about $28K/yr for a single adult.

Very few people are able to live on just their SS checks alone.
by jafs
Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:04 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

That's certainly an interesting, and possibly good argument for giving money to those at the bottom economically. It might be better for them to just get that money, and not engage in criminal activity to get it, since we pay (both financially and in other ways) for that crime. My wife and visited a...
by jafs
Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:01 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

Well, then it's clearly not as generous as I thought.

It would translate to about $1200/month here then, about $14,400/yr. Not so easy to live on that.
by jafs
Fri Jun 03, 2016 6:52 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: The Sustainable City
Replies: 3
Views: 1390

Re: The Sustainable City

Interesting.

I bet it costs a lot of money to live there.
by jafs
Fri Jun 03, 2016 6:50 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Citizen's Dividend
Replies: 169
Views: 57642

Re: Citizen's Dividend

That's a pretty substantial monthly amount. The swiss franc is about equivalent to a US $, so it's about $2500/month. One could live decently on that in many places in the US, especially if you didn't have to pay taxes on it - it's about $30K/yr. Of course, the cost of living may be higher in Switze...
by jafs
Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:13 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: New York's Outdated Knife Law (NYT)
Replies: 25
Views: 10862

Re: New York's Outdated Knife Law (NYT)

My name is afs, j...afs.

You guys crack me up!
by jafs
Thu Jun 02, 2016 12:39 pm
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)
Replies: 16
Views: 5736

Re: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)

Oh, you meant uncomfortable for liberals - I thought you meant you found it uncomfortable. The nature of American society/culture has always been multi-cultural, so I never understand people wanting to "preserve" American culture by making it homogeneous. There seem to be a lot of different cultures...
by jafs
Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:44 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)
Replies: 16
Views: 5736

Re: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)

Thanks for the info. No, I meant that I don't know what they might actually be doing to cement their culture, if they're doing that. There are certainly any number of things that a government might be able to do if they wanted to do that. What does the national language thing mean exactly? And, why ...
by jafs
Thu Jun 02, 2016 10:49 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)
Replies: 16
Views: 5736

Re: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)

Why is it "uncomfortable"?

I don't think Canada has a national language or religion, and I'm not sure what they might do to cement a national culture.

Where did you find percentages of ethnic groups? I looked a little bit and didn't find any of that.
by jafs
Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:45 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)
Replies: 16
Views: 5736

Re: Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (Taxes not Trump)

Liberals like Canada for a lot of reasons: Canadians are smart and well-informed, generally. The government works well, and people see it as a positive thing and a way to solve problems. There's a large middle class, with fewer people at the extremes on both ends (like America used to have). In a lo...
by jafs
Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:37 am
Forum: Other Discussions
Topic: New York's Outdated Knife Law (NYT)
Replies: 25
Views: 10862

Re: New York's Outdated Knife Law (NYT)

Honestly all modern knives from reputable brands (Kershaw, Spyderco, etc) are inexpensive and awesome. Get what you think looks cool and has whatever features you want in a knife. If you don't know, just get whatever. It'll be awesome! I did buy a Mora based on Coffee's (?) suggestion once. They mi...