Replace Welfare with the Negative Income Tax

Thanks for putting forward the NIT in debate, Valladarex. It's an interesting idea I've not heard of before.There seems to be a few very important misunderstandings about my position.I am not anti-taxation. I have said that it is reasonable to pay taxes so the government can provide important services to the general public. Sewers, roads, law enforcement, operating costs, national defense, fire, etc. Taxation becomes extortion when the taxpayers do not receive a benefit from the taxes paid. This is the case with welfare.I am not under the impression that virtually everyone who is unemployed is so because of laziness. I've been fired before, both fairly and unfairly, and I've been unemployed after quitting. (At the time, very young, no one to support, some money in savings, no need to work for a while, and very simple tastes) Elimination of poverty is not a realistic goal. As pro pointed out a number of factors can leave a person jobless and/or impoverished. These cannot always be foreseen or prevented. So it will always spring itself upon somebody somewhere. Should the poor be helped? Yes. Should the government seize funds from working citizens to do so, where it is streamed by the very often power hungry and ambitious so they have an opportunity to skim off the top? That's no longer helping the poor, but helping the greedy and the poor. If helping the poor in such a manner increases the cashflow past the powerful, why not make it mandatory?Or... we could not take 1/5-1/2 of the income of a historically very generous population and allow them to give 100% of what they want to the poor:The World Giving Index consistently puts Americans at the top of the list of for several types of philanthropy.https://www.cafonline.org..."Early Welfare Retirement" is entirely feasible. People that are temporarily out of work who are willing to work would do just fine with $100,000. They'd still look for a job, after maybe a vacation. How about the people who won't or can't work? Prediction: Most of them would take it, whether or not it's smart. People will be generous with them after that, if they can't find a steady support. If people aren't helpful with someone who can't work, that's a shame on the stingy community. While everyone has a right to live, that doesn't mean they have a right to live off other people, or a right to a certain level of lifestyle. Was it fair that people 4000 years ago in Europe were living in caves wearing bison hide? That's what everyone was doing! Was the entire continent deprived of basic human rights until gas heat and government pensions were invented? Where does this right to have at least $10,000 a year for no work come from? You got a right not to be killed, and a right to what you work for.Does the NIT reduce the ability of politicians and bureaucrats to skim off the top? Yes, but it still leaves them with a foot in the door, and my opponent has conceeded that this will probably be exploited. This would make the NIT a temporary solution to a problem that can't be permanently solved. Education, drive, health, and position are no garuntees to avoid poverty. So we're stuck with it in one form or another. If you're poor, the best solution is to work your way out. If you can't, you'll have to rely on generosity of others. Americans ARE generous. Even with the amount of generocity we have, and the number of welfare-type programs, I've met several people in very tight spots, some homeless, who for some reason can't find thier way into the system. I wouldn't blame them for trying to get in, even if I don't like the system; "Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry, But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house." But it's not fair to extract by force money from our paychecks to give to them. That's our choice, and our money that we worked for, and apparently are generous with anyway. This police state solution to poverty is not a good one, NIT or welfare, and it needs to be headed off at the pass in all it's forms.