221–230 of 444 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The human race has existed a long time without UBI.
just as it existed for centuries, millenia, without penicillin and without quinine. This isn’t an argument; a history of subsistence doesn’t mean we can’t think of ways to make it all better.
I like the idea of freeing people to be able to quit and get a new job any time, where quitting today means a real threat of losing one's home, transportation, or ability to eat (never mind fueling the cycle of debt that keeps so many down). I think it would be a net benefit if people could tell oppressive employers to fuck off without fear. However, a welfare state is a real thing to be worried about. My sister work…
How can a US Dollar based UBI solve the problems of automation when the Super Admins of the US Dollar are explicitly pursuing the opposite goal? According to the Federal Reserve website, 2/3 of their main goals are: 1. Seeking to maximize employment 2. Maintaining stable prices https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/what-economic-goals-does... Automation and ephemeralization minimize employment and prices, but the money…
I like the idea of freeing people to be able to quit and get a new job any time, where quitting today means a real threat of losing one's home, transportation, or ability to eat (never mind fueling the cycle of debt that keeps so many down). I think it would be a net benefit if people could tell oppressive employers to fuck off without fear. However, a welfare state is a real thing to be worried about. My sister work…
Any time such a huge change is introduced into a complex system, it is extremely hard to see all the unintended consequences. I like the idea of UBI, too. Taking that leap worries me, though, we might be in for a worse time because of it.
I definitely think we need to allow time for people's thinking to change, as well as to allow existing systems to adapt, and to respond to new issues as they come up. A brief look at Mao's Great Leap Forward should make anyone really cautious about making such sweeping changes immediately.
I think ideally what would happen is that there would be a planned gradation, where several things would slowly move from where they are now to the targets in sync, maybe changing every year. First year, UBI is $100 / month, minimum page is cut by about $0.75, taxes are adjusted accordingly. Second year, UBI is $200 / month, minimum wage cut again, and so on until UBI is the target "subsitence" value, where you can afford food and a roof over your head without working at all. At that point, minimum wage is done away with entirely.
The thing is, it will take time for people to re-adjust their expectations for how much a job is worth. If all my basic needs are taken care of by UBI, then maybe $1-2/hr is all I need to have a bit of extra spending money.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How are you accounting for the increased economic velocity of a sustained cash injection across the entire country?
But there will be less injection that now right, in case UBI is implemented? No "new" money will appear (unless you suggest printing more and more trillions). This is the same money taken away as taxes. Except now it goes to those in need, instead it will go to everyone: now almost all of that money is consumed and so is indeed a "cash injection", instead the portion of the money - that goes to those already doing OK…
... except that part where $1,000 per month per person in the US comes out to about $4 trillion, which is 100% of all taxes collected.
There is no universe in which this much money can be given to every citizen in the US without creating new money.
I like the idea of freeing people to be able to quit and get a new job any time, where quitting today means a real threat of losing one's home, transportation, or ability to eat (never mind fueling the cycle of debt that keeps so many down). I think it would be a net benefit if people could tell oppressive employers to fuck off without fear. However, a welfare state is a real thing to be worried about. My sister work…
https://www.wired.com/story/free-money-the-surprising-effect...
Yang also discusses this in his book.
Please don't comment hyperbole if you're not able to support your thoughts with data.
I like the idea of freeing people to be able to quit and get a new job any time, where quitting today means a real threat of losing one's home, transportation, or ability to eat (never mind fueling the cycle of debt that keeps so many down). I think it would be a net benefit if people could tell oppressive employers to fuck off without fear. However, a welfare state is a real thing to be worried about. My sister work…
This sounds like a lot of tribal areas that don't have UBI.
Are you thinking of a specific study that establishes UBI as the cause of this behavior in this case, or are you guessing?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I think this is a commonly-dodged problem that is dodged precisely because the nature of UBI proponents selects for it. But it's a mistake to think one's personal motivators/use of free time/etc are true of everyone. You cannot extrapolate like that. > Just as you can find Silicon Valley techies who think Soylent is the only sustenance a person will ever need, intellectuals tend to think everyone could be as co…
Please don’t tie UBI to the failed war on drugs. Alcohol prohibition was ceased for the exact same reason the war on drugs should be ceased. Further, there are even outlawed substances which have anti-addiction affects that are part of the prohibition. It’s the definition of a bad idea insulating itself from better ideas. People need UBI because the purely survival backed capitalistic system harms society too greatly…