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I ran across this article today, and it really spoke to me because I’m having some of this struggle in my own life. I’m retired, and I hate it. I need some meaningful work, both to supplement my retirement income (which eliminates volunteering for now), and to give me back a sense of some kind of purpose.

Anyway, the article describes the lessons learned from Marienthal, Austria in 1932. Marienthal suffered a catastrophic factory closure in 1932. The factory employed nearly 100% of the male residents. So when it closed, the financial blow to the local economy was catastrophic. Austria had very liberal social welfare policies at the time, so the whole town went on the public dole and received a "universal basic income". The social transformation was also catastrophic. The people weren’t starving or homeless, but the cultural fabric fell apart as the men of the city lost their sense of purpose. With all the time they had available to spend with their children, the opposite happened. They spent less time with their kids than they had when they worked. Whereas they previously had a lot of civic pride, instead of using that time to improve things, they let the town fall fall into disrepair. Etc., etc.

Anyway, it’s a fascinating read about an actual case study of the effects of universal basic income. And, as the author points out, sociology students in college are ALL taught about this study, so they have NO excuse when they try to push plans like this off on the rest of us. He makes the successful argument that plans like this essentially inventory people, destroying their dignity in the process, and that this is what liberalism has done to black Americans since the 1960s.

https://www.hennessysview.com/2016/08/1 ... n-america/

I'd like to respond on several levels.

As a retiree since 2012, I can say that I'm busier now than when I had a job and feel a lot more useful. I went from a job in my former company in 2002 where I spoke to my manager once every six months and was left on my own to accomplish my objectives in between times to my manager for the last 3 years where I wasn't allowed to go more than 3-4 hours without a "checkpoint". I can tell you that meaningful work was not part of the latter and my whole outlook suffered. Now, I set my own objectives and I'm happier than I was in the years before I retired.

Point #2. I was listening to a Dennis Prager interview online last evening. He has an interesting and useful (to me) difference between a classic Liberal point of view and the one that he terms "Leftist". There, one finds identify politics and the like. Leftism is more that expediency of subjugation in order to gain total power. Classic Liberals tolerated opposing points of view. Leftists do not and would seek to silence opposition with termination if necessary.

I think a far better example of ruining lives is the Native Americans. The Federal government has controlled their existence for a much longer time. I saw a very interesting documentary on TV more than 10 years ago which contrasted life for Native Americans who lived on government controlled land with those who did not. Casinos aside, those who lived on land which they controlled were happier and more successful. It goes without saying that when you cannot modify your own home without government signoff, there is not much incentive to do it. I was in New Mexico last month and listened to local stories about Native American families who are well off financially because of energy finds on their land but whose lives are filled with problems because that land is under Federal control. It appears that that the communities do not have the sense of purpose that is needed to thrive.

I agree that America has a clear example of failed socialism with our tribes. I pulled this from Facebook and have witnessed the loss of community pride in areas where BIA makes the decisions. BTW, cultural pride is very strong and very different than community pride.
Nick