Means-tested social assistance is now a vestigial remnant of an economy strictly dependent upon labor as its primary input for growth. As the share of economic inputs tips increasingly in favor of capital (via automation), most laborers will steadily become unemployable at a subsistence-level minimum wage. As a result, we will see dependence and abuses of means-tested social welfare by these laborers who can no longer participate in the market.
The only long term solution is a basic income system, which rewards consumption and allows the market to continuously reward innovation and efficiency. Without a redistribution mechanism to fuel consumption, the market collapses entirely as wealth is further concentrated.
The only long term solution is a basic income system, which rewards consumption and allows the market to continuously reward innovation and efficiency. Without a redistribution mechanism to fuel consumption, the market collapses entirely as wealth is further concentrated.
Further reading:
1. http://www.naturalfinance.net/2013/02/nearly-all-of-us-suppo...
2. http://amzn.com/B005WTR4ZI
3. http://amzn.com/B002S0NITU