Universal Basic Income (A Break From the Primaries)

[Meldread]

36. Yeah, it's a really bad idea to do that.

Obviously, we want a UBI that would allow someone to support a family, as most people WILL have children. However, that would only be one factor out of many that would be part of a national living standard calculation. Most people will have one or two kids as they do now. How we come up with the calculation for UBI will be somewhat complicated, but the core goal would be to create a standard that ensures that everyone can live above the poverty line.

Our goal should not be to support someone like the Octo-Mom or the Dugger family. If they want to have a million kids, that's their business, but it's not our job to support them. As you point out, it would also be a horrific incentive for people to have lots of kids to get more money from the system. That's why we support a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, easy (even free!) access to all forms of contraceptive methods (for both men and women), and a healthy and robust sexual education as well as lessons on family planning--before children begin to have sex and pop out kids. In a free society people should be able to make choices for themselves, but with those choices come responsibilities. If for some reason certain individuals begin to have so many children they cannot sufficiently care for them, then that is a matter for Child Protective Services.