June 20, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to help poor families by paying them to complete common tasks, such as giving them $300 for when their children do well in school, harms American values, writes an anonymous author on his political blog, Capital Cloak.
“We have now gone from ‘You can feed a man with fish, but it is better to teach him how to fish’ to ‘Let’s pay the man $100 per month for having a fishing pole,’” he writes.
Cash-reward programs were pioneered by foundations, and in New York Mr. Bloomberg is raising $53-million from private sources for the two-year program instead of using government money because of the experimental nature of the effort.
Regardless of where the money comes from, though, the author of Capital Cloak finds the while idea problematic.
“The idea of paying people, regardless of their income level, to make good common-sense decisions is the epitome of government run amok. It does not matter whether the funding of such a program comes from philanthropy or taxation; the theory behind the program is morally bankrupt and dangerous to the survival of American ideals such as individualism and personal responsibility,” he writes.
What do you think? Are cash rewards a smart way to fight poverty? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
