> Poverty can also be a trap because the simple solution (just giving someone money to alleviate poverty) isn't the same as earned success.
Taking a pill when you are ill is also not the same as doing your own medical research. I just never heard that used as a reason for denying people pills.
I can imagine good reasons for not giving poor people money (such as: the money is needed somewhere else), but "then they would not feel what my pet psychological theory says is the optimal state of mind" is not among them.
Feeling that you earned money is nice, but it is not the most important feeling in the world. People can feel good about doing stuff they can't easily convert to money. For example, poor people helping each other is in my opinion a good thing, but usually not very profitable. Or taking care of your kids... okay, one could argue that this will bring some profit in the future... yeah, maybe, but you and the kids need to eat something today.
(Also, it feels unfair to blame people fully for their inability to make money, when they live in a society where everything is regulated -- such as jobs they could hypothetically do, but they do not have the required education, or cannot pass some other artificial barrier to entry.)
Taking a pill when you are ill is also not the same as doing your own medical research. I just never heard that used as a reason for denying people pills.
I can imagine good reasons for not giving poor people money (such as: the money is needed somewhere else), but "then they would not feel what my pet psychological theory says is the optimal state of mind" is not among them.
Feeling that you earned money is nice, but it is not the most important feeling in the world. People can feel good about doing stuff they can't easily convert to money. For example, poor people helping each other is in my opinion a good thing, but usually not very profitable. Or taking care of your kids... okay, one could argue that this will bring some profit in the future... yeah, maybe, but you and the kids need to eat something today.
(Also, it feels unfair to blame people fully for their inability to make money, when they live in a society where everything is regulated -- such as jobs they could hypothetically do, but they do not have the required education, or cannot pass some other artificial barrier to entry.)