Comment by acdha | Hacker News Reader

Comment by acdha | Hacker News Reader

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> What Zuckerberg should have done is to put out $10M-$20M of that money as prizes for small non/for-profit startups to come up with ingenious solutions.

What kind of solution would a startup come up with for a kid who doesn't sleep under the same roof three nights running or who doesn't have a single role model who succeeded at school and is doing well professionally because they live in an area which has been systematically screwed over (race, class, etc.) for so long that everyone they know has given up?

There are a few areas where the tech-world style approach could help — building better software for class management, lesson planning, etc. if for no reason other than reducing the amount going to huge, under-delivering enterprise software vendors – but most of the problems are areas where we've chosen not to invest as a society: jobs, housing, medical care — critically long-term disability care — etc. Ask a teacher how it feels when a bright student starts missing school because their family was evicted or is being pressured not to go to college because their family wants them to watch a younger/disabled sibling while the parents are at work.

The best use for that $100M probably would have been opening some sort of high-headcount employer in the area to help break the cycle — even a call center job is a big step up if it provides a consistent, livable income.

Tragically opening a call center likely wouldn't help at all. Many people in poverty in the US are actually better off staying unemployed because their entitlements (food stamps, housing assistance, free child care, etc) go down or disappear if they get a job.

Our current setup is severely broken and full of perverse incentives that trap people in poverty. In an effort to prevent abuse we've stripped eligibility for assistance programs to only the near-destitute but then set the payouts at a higher level than many of those people are likely to earn on re-entering the workforce.

Dozens of programs, at both a state and federal level, would need to be overhauled so that the incentives led people out of poverty instead of creating a chasm between government dependence and entry-level labor.

Very strong agreement on this point – one of the strongest arguments for those basic income schemes is that it would get rid of the welter of conflicting incentives the current patchwork creates.

>The best use for that $100M probably would have been opening some sort of high-headcount employer

That assumes these people are employable or want to work.

We agree the biggest problem for these kids is family life, I just don't think that will stop with employment or even just handing their parents money.

> That assumes these people are employable or want to work.

Do you have any reason to believe that we have a huge population of parents who aren't willing to work to provide for their families? Skills can be a challenge but it almost always comes down to other factors like whether jobs are available in their area, transportation and child care availability, and whether things like public assistance benefits were set up in a way which penalizes anyone who gets a job.

I haven't gone door to door and done a proper survey if that's what you mean. But yeah, I've met people who either have avoided getting a job or lament not having one despite spending most of their time watching TV all day.

>things like public assistance benefits were set up in a way which penalizes anyone who gets a job.

So true. However, in many cultures pride is more important than the monetary benefit of free loading.

>"That assumes these people are employable or want to work."

I'd say that seems more reasonable than assuming the opposite, but not at all surprising that you would feel otherwise [1][2].

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7700903

2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7566117

Pointing out that I don't think people who happen to be minorities should be treated differently doesn't help your argument.

I love people who think they're not racist then make assumptions like yours.

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