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Basic Income is a subject that regularly surfaces in Soylent discussions, so here's a story about Finland's impending experiment with it:
Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587 US), in a unique social experiment which is hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.
Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA, which is responsible for the country's social benefits, said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1.
Those chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive.
The average private sector income in Finland is 3,500 euros per month, according to official data.
Also at The Guardian and swissinfo.ch.
(Score: 2) by curunir_wolf on Thursday January 05 2017, @04:52AM
The point is, far left and far right are both authoritarians and taken to extremes both with try to restrict freedoms in many horrible ways. Lately in the US it's been the left attacking free speech, going further trying to do that than I ever thought I would see happen. If you're looking at extremes there is no more freedom-restricting regime than the far-left North Korea or Communist China. Conservatives certainly have no monopoly on authoritarianism.
BTW, if you want churches, mosques, synagogues and the like to pay property taxes, you also have to remove the tax exemption from all other charities, homeless shelters (often church-based), soup kitchens (often church-based), orphanages, museums, cemeteries, and others. I guess that might be a good thing because then the authoritarian left can then stop telling religious leaders what they can and can't say all the time. I'm assuming this is just you hating religions (probably only SOME of them), because as SCOTUS stated in McCulloch v. Maryland "the power to tax involves the power to destroy."
Not sure WTF you're talking about with income taxes being paid to let corporations exist. I mean, WTF? I wasn't even talking about income taxes, I was talking about payroll taxes, but you don't seem to know the difference. Do you even know where income taxes go? They go into the Treasury, and that pays for EVERYTHING the government does. But do they tax wealth? NO they tax the only thing that poor people have: their LABOR. How's THAT for a fucked up restriction on freedom? The Federal government takes 15% right off the top, BEFORE income taxes.
So I'll go to Saudi Arabia if you go to North Korea. Good luck, comrade!
I am a crackpot
(Score: 2) by dry on Friday January 06 2017, @05:40AM
It's not so much hard left or hard right, it's authoritarian left or right. Hard left should mean no government for example. Not sure what hard right would be though they even have a libertarian wing.
Around here, while church's get (property) tax free status automatically, other tax free institutions have their tax free status looked at every year and if they're not improving the community, they lose it. Should be the same for religious institutions, some do good and some don't.
Different jurisdictions handle payroll taxes and income taxes differently. Here a lot of seniors get their government pension plan topped up out of general revenue, especially people such as housewives who didn't pay much payroll tax to begin with, being busy with non-productive stuff such as bringing up children.
Last government, a right wing one, operated like all they existed for was to help big business. Taxpayer research was only to be done to help business and the taxpayers weren't even allowed to see the science and the government employees weren't allowed to speak to the taxpayers without going through a political.
N. Korea and especially China have gone so far left that they're now right. N. Korea basically has a monarchy even if they do call themselves a republic and China seems like one of the most business friendly governments in the world.
Of course right and left are not things that you can easily point to and especially in America their meanings seem very fluid with both sides having a fantasy about what they really mean