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The best argument for altruism
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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Libertarians help people. They just want to do it consciously by their own volition.
Yes, that's how helping people works.
Not sure where the controversy here is.
The controversy begins with Ayn Rand saying altruism is evil and ends with people like you who think help is something that can be forced and that it's still help when it's forced.
It's like I'm happier when the people around me are happy. If you don't tread on me, I won't tread on you.
People often are not happy if they live in poverty. The libertarian solution to that is essentially "stop being poor."
And it works! It does require not shitting on the education systems and getting many other things right. But directly helping poor people clearly doesn't work in any real way in making them not poor.
I'm pretty sure studies have shown that just giving people money is very effective at ending poverty.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/08/07/541609649/how-to-fix-poverty-why-not-just-give-people-money
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/04/973653719/california-program-giving-500-no-strings-attached-stipends-pays-off-study-finds
My common sense and Milton Friedman liturgies also say that basic income/negative tax would work, but then there are results like this:
https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-basic-income-study-results-2024-7
I wonder if all or most studies show that basic income works or just that some selected ones did? But I don't mind being wrong about this, I like basic income as an idea. I just had the understanding that it doesn't work in practice.
That study looks like it had positive outcomes
Archive link https://archive.is/xfCMm
Except it doesn't because you can't just "stop being poor" and if you're living in poverty, you don't have the bootstraps to pull yourself up with.
Which is why almost all of the richest people in America grew up at least middle class. Most grew up wealthy.