Request For Research: Basic Income

Post by whiddershins » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 12:39 PM UTC

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #558

toomanybeersies wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to be a very American thing to not have banking as a basic right (or at least assumed right). Here in New Zealand, there's pretty much no restriction on getting bank accounts. It's almost unheard of to not have a bank account. Transaction fees aren't really a thing either. Most people only have to pay to withdraw money from other banks ATMs. There's no fees for bank transfers (regardless of whether it's to t…

We certainly have a long way to go here. I found it endlessly frustrating trying to get an expense card for my nanny. I wanted her to have access to a set limit of my money to pay for things for the kids but not an endless supply. I wanted it to just be there. I never found any banks that had anything even remotely like that. I ended up just getting a reloadable debit card that I have to keep topping off for her. And…

Post by whiddershins » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 12:46 PM UTC

derefr wrote: post #764

tptacek wrote: post #589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking about that, and about the story of Ferguson Missouri, where some huge portion of the (largely African American) population had arrest warrants over petty fines that had blossomed through late fees and default judgements into financial catastrophes levied by the (largely middle class white) municipal government, with the last few suggestions.

Instead of Universal Basic Income, how about Universal Basic Food Stamps? It feels like, rather than a basic income, we need two orthogonal currencies: one for necessities (food, rent, utilities) and one for niceities. Everyone would just have two numbers in their bank account, for each of the country's two official currencies. Basic income would be paid in one, while all income from trade in the economy would be in…

Post by johnchristopher » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 1:36 PM UTC

thinkingkong wrote: post #301

johnchristopher wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Way to miss the point. If you don't have a job, even if you have some kind of meaningful work or hobby on the side, your self-worth will still suffers from that.

My point is that if we're going to introduce a concept like basic income then we need to start being really clear about the difference between effort in exchange of money, and effort which contributes to your satisfaction. Not sure how I'm missing the point.

Post by johnchristopher » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 1:43 PM UTC

robertbenjamin wrote: post #425

johnchristopher wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Way to miss the point. If you don't have a job, even if you have some kind of meaningful work or hobby on the side, your self-worth will still suffers from that.

How do you know that?

Post by nunobrito » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 2:00 PM UTC

Throwaway23412 wrote: post #668

nunobrito wrote: post #604

tptacek, please don't apply racist comments on this article. When you don't pay your bills, you simply don't riot on the streets as reaction. Likely not the fault of what you describe as "middle class white" group for enforcing municipal regulation. Likely no innocent parties on either parties involved.

It's fascinating that you seem to find the "largely middle class white" part racist but not the "largely African American" part racist. Also, saying the Ferguson protests were about "not paying bills" is like saying Occupy Wall Street was about "skipping work". It smacks of either absolute ignorance or some sort of deliberate agenda.