Planet America

[Meadmaker]

Quick search found this:

https://www.givedirectly.org/2023-ubi-results/

The most relevant quote, in my opinion, is "Results from rural Kenya are not necessarily applicable to high-income countries."

I'm all for using government assistance to lift people out of extreme poverty when employment opportunities don't exist. That's what happened in this study. I'm for it. $22.50/month. Seems like a great investment.

ETA: And, in this case, many of the recipients were, in fact, employed, but many of the employed were not paid enough to raise them above the extreme poverty level. Apparently, Kenya must not have minimum wage laws. In other words, employment opportunities existed in Kenya at the time of the study, but not employment that would allow people to rise above extreme poverty. Nor was the amount of money provided by the UBI program enough to lift them out of extreme poverty. The extreme poverty line cited in the study was 33 dollars/month. The study provided 22.50.

[grayman]

In other news, another shooting:

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/fi ... k/3463185/

[arthwollipot]

Grand Fenwick would have aircraft carriers, too, if they could afford them.

Grand Fenwick doesn't need them. They have the Q-bomb.

[arthwollipot]

Quick search found this:

https://www.givedirectly.org/2023-ubi-results/

Thanks - that's certainly relevant, but I'm pretty sure the one I was thinking of was in Iceland, and it found almost exactly the same thing - giving people money did not disincentivise work.

It might have been Finland.

Or it might have been this Masters thesis by Tyler Wacker, in which case I appear to be slightly misremembering it. But only slightly.

[Admin]

Just finished the link stanky provided. In your world TA, who exactly is 'Butcher Harris'? I don't see the name in the article and can make no connection with any persons living or dead who had anything to say about nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He was the architect of, and in command of, the firebombing of Dresden and Hamburg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Harris

Fact remains it was done and the time for crying about it is long since over.

I agree, otherwise we'd be trying Genghis Khan.

I'm well aware of the fact that a nuclear exchange with either or both Xi and Putin will turn in to a planet killing catastrophe.

Interesting times at the moment.

Vlad is getting his arse handed to him on his western front, and he's having tantrums.

Whether his loyalty among the troops extends to actioning a request for a nuke attack might be answered in the next few weeks.

[sparks]

Thanks for the info on Butcher Harris. My history of WWII is, obviously, not at all complete.

[Admin]

Thanks for the info on Butcher Harris. My history of WWII is, obviously, not at all complete.

It's not one they talk about too much. Everyone over 50 knows about the nukes and the Blitz of London, but only a tiny percentage of Brits and Commonwealth citizens have even heard of the fire-bombings.

By the same token, it was taken as gospel that the Poms were as one during the Blitz, crowded in the Underground and holding hands, when the fact is, an immense amount of looting went on: https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... h-blackout

War is hell.

[sparks]

Well, the looting is almost understandable given the incessant greed of the human species particularly when their backs are against the wall. I was aware of the fire bombings, but not that some douche named Harris was connected with them.

Indeed war is hell and as previously pointed out, atrocities are common under such conditions. Really pays off to dehumanize the enemy eh?

The enemy. Right.

Fuck.

[Admin]

Well, the looting is almost understandable given the incessant greed of the human species particularly when their backs are against the wall. I was aware of the fire bombings, but not that some douche named Harris was connected with them.

We can even point to his influence on the world today - he wanted to flatten Palestinian villages who dissented in the years before WWII.

Indeed war is hell and as previously pointed out, atrocities are common under such conditions. Really pays off to dehumanize the enemy eh?

The enemy. Right.

Fuck.

Amen to all that, brother.

[sparks]

I was never a big fan of LBJ, but that great campaign spot strikes a chord where he sums up by saying: "We must learn to love one another, or go into the darkness."

Fuckin' right.