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The Human Prosperity Project Discussion

Why a Universal Basic Income Won't Work

What motivates people to improve their skills or their situation in life?

Responses

To uplift themselves, to achieve a respectable, dignified life and status in society.

Character.

Just how debilitating welfare can be in eroding human initiative was told in a 2008 story by the U.K. Daily Mail.2 The newspaper reported on a study showing that the benefits system has created a “why bother” economy that has left thousands with no motivation to work. The Mail reported on 10 members of the same family living in a council house (paid for by the government), none of whom had ever worked. The newspaper has reported on other families who feel insulted when someone suggests they should find jobs. It is the ultimate poison that has produced an entitlement mentality.

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