RE: Hats Off To This Guy
April 17, 2015 at 7:28 pm
(This post was last modified: April 17, 2015 at 7:29 pm by Heywood.)
(April 17, 2015 at 5:53 pm)Mr.wizard Wrote:(April 17, 2015 at 4:28 pm)Heywood Wrote: If it makes their lives better off then they should.
When I retire, I have thought about working part time for minimum wage. I'd have to find a job that I absolutely love. I'd do it not for the wage but because I love it. I'd want minimum wage even if they would pay me more because I'd be collecting social security and that is a poverty trap.
Somebody like Brian, who isn't saving a nickle, won't be able to live off social security alone. He will probably have to work until he dies. The problem is if he earns too much when he is collecting social security they penalize him. That penalty will keep him poorer than he has to be. That is why the social security benefit is a poverty trap for people like Brian.
Lots of government handouts are poverty traps. They help people in the short term, but because of the rules the create incentives for people to remain poor. It is one of the reasons why I advocate getting rid of this rag bag of government programs and all the federal employees who administer them, and replace it all with a universal basic income that has no strings attached. You get it simply for being alive.
Oh, so its not the low wages that are keeping people poor, it's really all the wonderful benefits that poor people get?
Quite often yes.
I have seen things like what is described in the video happen on several occasions. For instance I have seen people take a leave because if they continued to work their child would not qualify for a state needs grant for college. I have seen people ask for hours reductions lest their social security benefits get penalized if they earn too much money.
In both situations the government program made the person a less productive member of society than they otherwise would have been.
Sure Diest.....except that it hasn't.
