A Solution to Poverty in America

[Rota]

6) Issues with my solution

Restaurants.

I’m of the opinion that this is a service and not a sale of goods. I think that restaurant transactions should be cash. But the restaurant should buy its supplies with stamps. So the owner would take earned cash to the exchange to buy stamps in order to buy the ingredients to serve. But I believe this is a moot point. Just like the exchange service at the grocery store, I would bet every restaurant will have the current exchange rate posted at the register, and will accept cash or stamps interchangeably.


Inflation.

Stamps are being printed every month and put out into the public to be spent and traded. Food prices will only go up, and the dollar value of the stamps will only go down. So, there needs to be a way to get stamps out of the market. My thought is to put this responsibility under The Fed. They already decide what to place rates at. The same council can meet once a week or once a month and determine how many stamps to buy out of the market at whatever the current rate is. If the price is too low, then getting stamps out of the market will decrease supply and raise the price. If the price is too high, then they can leave the market alone and allow more stamps to enter the market. This increases supply and lowers the price.

It’s my goal to see food prices stabilize forever. If you buy an apple for 1 stamp today, then you should buy an apple for 1 stamp in a decade. It’s the dollar value of the stamp that will go up with inflation. So that stamp may be worth $1 today and $5 in a decade.


Enforcement.

There’s no way to make sure everyone buys food with only food stamps. But, that’s not really necessary. Well over 90% of the food in this country is bought at the big box grocery stores. Small token enforcement at these stores is all that is necessary. As long as this huge portion of the market share charges stamps only, then it will control the prices in all those little grey areas.

Let’s say the current exchange rate is 1 stamp to 1 dollar. A small fisherman is selling fresh fish out of his boat for cash. Technically, it’s against the rules, but there is no enforcement needed here. If you know you can get a 7 lb salmon for 20 stamps, then you might buy a 7 lb salmon off this fisherman for up to $25 because it’s fresher. But he won’t be able to price gouge for $50. The mere presence of the huge market share of the big box stores that only charge stamps will control prices in all the little grey areas like the farmers markets and wharfs and such.


Crime.

What about criminals? Let’s say the allowance is 100 stamps a month. Then create a charge of 100 stamps per month when you spend time in jail. So, basically, while in prison, one does not gain or lose any stamps.

People will sell stamps for drug money, so the government will be subsidizing drug abuse. I cannot deny this. I can say, however, that over 90% of the people that will do this, are already doing it. The only difference is that the users will no longer be selling $10 worth of stamps for $2 worth of drugs. In our new system, the user can sell 4 stamps to the bank for $4 of drug money (assuming 1to1 exchange rate) and get twice as many drugs. But they will now have 6 stamps to get some actual food. So which is better? Option one is $2 of drugs with the user and $10 of buying power in stamps with the dealer. Option two is $4 of drugs and $6 worth of food with the user and $4 in the dealer’s hands. With my new proposed system, the dealer is actually worse off, and the user has some actual food in their stomach. I do not advocate this system. But it’s a fact that must be faced. Drug seeking behavior is what it is.


7) Some more thoughts.

This thread is an EXTREMELY hyphenated post of the plan. In some cases, you’re just going to have to take my word for it. There’s far too much information and detail work to spell out on an Internet forum.

I would love to see a similar system implemented for housing since housing is the largest portion of everyone’s budget. But, I cannot fathom a way to integrate it.

Quite simply, this plan takes one of the necessities of life, food, and removes it from your budget. It makes the dollars we earn determine our lifestyle, not our survival.

Yes it’s semi-so******t, because the government is basically giving equal food to the people. But it’s more capitalist because of the free market exchange of stamps. It’s definitely not communist, so if you’re about to start one of those arguments, just stop yourself. I would call it either so******t capitalism or capitalist so******m, whichever you think sounds better.

I’m doing most of this from memory of an absolutely ginormous project.
Please don’t flame, simply point out the hole in the idea. Chances are that it has been addressed in my master’s program presentation, but I forgot to mention it here.

If this idea succeeds at shrinking the wealth gap in America, it will at least vastly reduce poverty. It will, at best, end poverty and hunger in America altogether. It’s also an easy system to implement in other countries to achieve the same ends.