Progressives Want to Destroy Work Ethic With ‘Free Money’
Universal Basic Income programs are spreading across California even as evidence points to its follies.
SACRAMENTO — The best way to avoid a life of poverty is to develop work skills that are marketable. That seems pretty obvious. Although I’m financially dependent on the companies that pay me, my job security stems not from whatever job protections the government offers (basically none, as an “at will” employee), but from supply and demand. Do I offer a skill others will pay for?
Again, this is basic stuff — and was as true early in my career when I had few skills as it is now. But the progressives who control California want to complicate matters, believing instead that each person’s financial lot is the result of either privilege or oppression. In their view, some people are beneficiaries of unearned abundance while others have the decks stacked against them.
Certainly, we’re not all born with equal talents or into equal circumstances. But we’ve all known people born into luxury who squander their blessings — and the children of poverty who develop the useful skills necessary to live a comfortable and productive life. Some people are industrious, and others are lazy. I’ve known people who, no matter what genuine calamity comes their way, will do whatever it takes to pay their bills. I’ve also seen those who will always have an excuse not to shoulder their responsibilities.
Yet instead of trying to teach lower-income people the skills they need to survive, our policymakers have embraced an age-old idea that has never worked and never will — simply giving people public money. In 2018, the city of Stockton embarked on a Universal Basic Income program that provided select city residents with $500 a month, no strings attached. Supporters apparently believe that cash handouts can lead to a middle-class life.
A 2021 study of the program by its supporters found great results, as recipients talked about how much the extra cash helped their families. Sure, if you gave me an extra few hundred bucks a month, I’d be thrilled with the windfall, but that’s not the mark of a successful strategy. The program was funded by a foundation. If private groups want to give away money — or burn it in an incinerator — that’s their prerogative. But the transparent goal of the Stockton pilot program was to promote this idea nationwide, often funded by public money.
The Daily Mail reported this month that multiple cities across the country — including Los Angeles, Oakland, Washington, D.C., Newark, and Baltimore — have spent $125 million on such programs after the pandemic destroyed whatever fiscal restraint and common sense still remained in our country. To no one’s surprise, one recipient of a lump-sum payment reportedly spent a lot of it on a vacation and other non-necessity items.
The woman who spent the money on the vacation “says the trip served a greater purpose,” according to a Washington Post report on the D.C. program, which is about to get an even larger infusion of cash from the city. The report continues: “On a normal day, [the woman] tries to encourage her kids to work hard academically by showing them videos of students graduating early or being praised for doing well in school as the key to success. At Miami Beach, they got to see luxury firsthand.” (Maybe I can get a windfall, just so I can see firsthand what it’s like to own a Ducati.)
Ironically, the Post links to a feature in its magazine with the headline: “Universal Basic Income Has Been Tested Repeatedly. It Works. Will America Ever Embrace It?” It’s incredibly hard to understand why many Americans, who can’t afford boat tours and “glow ups,” might not immediately embrace the “extraordinary success” of this “bold policy idea.” Another recipient interviewed by the newspaper has a master’s degree, which makes one wonder about the program’s selection criteria.
In the latest absurdity, California is trying to take the concept a step further after it passed a $30 million pilot program to pay community college students to attend school and do the requisite homework, per a report in CalMatters. “Some students who are working now may be able to stop working or reduce their hours,” an assistant vice chancellor with the California Community Colleges system told the publication. You heard that right: The state wants to pay people to stop working.
One Santa Rosa community college official said it costs $20,000 to $30,000 a year to attend the college — but that number includes rent, transportation, and food. That’s an odd calculation given that we all have living expenses we must pay no matter what we’re doing. In reality, community college in California is a bargain. The average tuition cost is around $1,600. The state offers free tuition for certain first-time students. There are plenty of aid programs for the others.
The article explains that current financial-aid programs come with requirements — such as taking a full course load — whereas the paid students might prefer to take only a couple of classes. Here’s another example of how these UBI-style programs impede economic progress. It’s typically best to quickly earn a degree, get out in the world, and start working than to dilly-dally through one’s coursework while collecting a paycheck from the state.
Community college can be a great economical way to learn a trade or career, but working a real job while one goes to school can help hone basic job skills. It helps people manage their time and budgets and, you know, learn useful skills and behaviors. Would you be more likely to hire a candidate who juggled multiple tasks and jobs — or one who expected to get paid for doing homework? And paying people to take classes will encourage them to fill up limited seats sought by students who are more committed to getting an education.
The paid-college program delays the ability of its recipients to gain those marketable skills that are key to a successful life, just as other types of UBI programs discourage their recipients from learning how to manage their budgets by, say, delaying that fancy vacation. UBI destroys the work ethic and a sense of personal responsibility. Free money always comes at a high price.