1) One of the things that came to mind for me when I was reading your post was about a Universal Basic
Income (UBI). There are some people that think that a UBI would help reduce the sense of poverty, especially
when it comes to the underemployed. The UBI would be a guaranteed income – regardless of what the person
is doing for work. Some believe that a UBI would create opportunities for people to invest time in learning more
and investing in time to do things that they actually enjoy, rather than getting jobs just to “make ends meet.”
What are your thoughts about a UBI for citizens of the U.S.?
2) What are your thoughts on the matter? While the form of welfare mentioned is specifically “food stamps”, do
you think it is ethical or unethical to dictate what someone buys from a Grocery or Convenient store with
money that becomes “theirs”? While I’m not thrilled with the idea of someone using money I paid in taxes
meant for food assistance to be buying vices like cigarettes or alcohol (which are harmful to health and present
arguably another issue taxes must pay for), I assert it is none of my business to tell someone how to spend
their money, regardless of where it came from. To me, if the purpose of food stamps is really to help feed the
impoverished, couldn’t we (meaning the government) provide FOOD instead of money in the form of voucher
stamps? That seems to make more sense to me. What do you think?