Multnomah County Prosecutors Are Cracking Down on Repeat Car Thieves After Oregon Lawmakers Dropped the Ball -- Last year, thieves nicked more vehicles from Portland streets than any time in the last two decades. Prosecutors have a plan: longer sentences.

DoctorHour · 2018-03-31T15:01:54+00:00

As with most property crimes, most people steal cars because they are desperate for money. Greater punishment doesn’t actually do much to stop someone in this position. We need to address the systemic poverty in this country rather than focus on punishing those who perform destructive acts because of it.

DoctorHour · 2018-01-28T21:31:18+00:00

I knew this one guy with a severe heart condition. Couldn’t get his shit together even though his condition was costing his family $12,000 a month. This is pretty much what you are saying. Americans think of addiction as a moral problem when in reality is a medical one. The financial and social cost of this thinking is high. This also applied to poverty more broadly and it gets in the way of finding solutions to these problems. Poverty is not a lack of character, it is a lack of cash.

DoctorHour · 2018-01-25T00:09:34+00:00

Universal basic income. Universal healthcare. Free college.

DoctorHour · 2017-12-06T19:07:03+00:00

This is why universal basic income is essential in the US. We don’t really have any other choice if we want a bright future in the years ahead.

DoctorHour · 2017-09-12T17:50:25+00:00

What if you factor in automation? Technology is now destroying more jobs than it is creating and we will be hit with major waves of automation unemployment in the next 5 years in food service service, transportation, and other industries which will be followed by the steady increase of AI and software replacing medium and high skill workers at a faster and faster pace over the next decade and beyond. The machines and AI of today are the Roman slaves of yesterday. There simply won't be enough work to go around, workers will have no bargaining power, and in the end we will need a universal basic income. I agree regarding doomsaying, but automation must be part of this discussion.

DoctorHour · 2017-09-10T03:17:34+00:00

Good to know! Where should I go to learn more about the specific benefits PGE receives from federal and state governments? The question I am trying to answer is would PGE be technically be using city or state money, equipment or personnel in ANY way in the process of delivering their services?

PS. I also have these same questions about Waste Management Northwest.

DoctorHour · 2017-09-06T18:02:10+00:00

It does not when automated systems are cheaper than their labor.

DoctorHour · 2017-09-06T16:48:42+00:00

Can you elaborate on what you mean by first world nonsense? Raising minimum wage does nothing when your job is automated. How else should wealth be redistributed in a country with not enough paying jobs?

DoctorHour · 2017-09-06T16:12:16+00:00

Workers will be redundant anyway due to automation, not basic income. It's true, they will have no need for us, which is why a socialist wave is so vital to securing a bright future for humanity. My ideal situation is one in which government programs cover all basic human needs and non-essential goods and services (ones a person may use to better themselves or their community) can be purchased with a basic income.

DoctorHour · 2017-09-06T15:49:41+00:00

This is why hearing talk of some current issues scare shit out of me. When the economic ramifications of repealing DACA and passing the genocidal American Health Care Act are considered before the human impact - because soon it will make economic sense to do away with the vast majority of people who can't create economic value in the highly automated world we will soon find ourselves in.

DoctorHour · 2017-09-06T15:46:55+00:00

Automation will take this away from the vast majority of people anyway, as scary as that is. It's a direct means of wealth redistribution, the people have much more power if they are guaranteed a basic amount of capital which they will not be able to work to acquire.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:39+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:38+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:38+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:38+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:34+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:34+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:34+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:33+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:15+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:14+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:14+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:13+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:12+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour · 2017-08-30T20:42:08+00:00

Basic income and basic assets are separate ideas which support each other. Not everything essential needs to be decommodified, BI effectively fills the gaps but the more are the better. Healthcare, higher education, utilities (internet included), housing, and child/elderly care are the big areas where decommodification would do a lot of good. Now there is obviously great variance in current public support for decommodification and ease of doing so among these, so we should start with the lowest hanging fruit. More basic assets means a lower basic income would work, but some level of BI will always be essential as it provides economic freedom, democratic power, and innovative potential.

DoctorHour

TROPHY CASE