One method of paying for UBI isn't listed - "Printing Money" (Don't say they aren't thinking about it)
The europeans are thinking about that: I read an article where the head of the ECB explored this as an alternative to negative inflation
What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
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Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#22I think the idea is that with automation and capital concentration, we need a model where the masses can be like modern medieval serfs.
Basic needs are taken care of, and the ultra rich get to accumulate their wealth.
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#23I'm glad we are having this conversation about ubi, but I see a lot of proposals that are basically "just give everyone $X,000 a month and turn off other social services". My big concern with that approach is that we'd see landlords immediately bump rents, or we'd cut medical support for people (when medical bills can clearly be many multiples of ubi). But I'm very pro ubi if we can figure out how to protect the peop…
You've pointed out why UBI makes no sense. As the saying goes, if everyone is a millionaire, nobody is. Likewise, if you give everyone $X that amount becomes the new baseline. This is also the reason why it makes no sense to fight wealth inequality. Without wealth inequality, there wouldn't be wealth, only a baseline. What UBI tries to solve isn't a bug, but a feature.
Sure, but it's a very different baseline when you can afford basic needs instead of being homeless and hungry. The fact that some other people might feel "less rich" as a result shouldn't really be considered an issue.
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#24Fact: The plan is about replacing you with robots at work so they can rake in more profits. In return you get to go on welfare rebranded as UBI. Look it up UBI is about automation AI replacing humans for profit. (see geordie rose) So your 40k job becomes 10k to 15k welfare. MegaCorps pocket the rest of your wage as reward for selling you out to UBI and AI.
Megacorps will still have competition (other megacorps), along with customers (you, I). Automation will bring down costs all over the supply chain, so margins will be thinner. But - they still need customers. No customers, no product.
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#25One method of paying for UBI isn't listed - "Printing Money" (Don't say they aren't thinking about it)
That way of paying UBI conflicts their interests (pun intended). But it has an upside too: You could target exactly zero inflation in a UBI-based monetary system without adverse effects.
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#26The prevailing view seems to be: robots will take our jobs, therefore we will need UBI, which allows people to live without work. The way I see it, the main problem that UBI is solving is inequality, it's a rich to poor transfer. Excessive inequality is bad because the aggregate utility goes down (rich people don't gain much from an additional dollar, so it's more effectively used by a poor person). Transfering cash…
I find it hard to believe that it would be effective at reducing inequality. It would make the lives of the poor better for sure, but it will not reduce inequality. When Jeff Bezos' net worth can swing $9B in a day as it did this past Friday, giving the poor enough money to purchase food and bare essentials isn't going to make much of a dent in their net worth. I'm not saying it won't help them out, just that it real…
In what way will the direct transfer of money from people who have more to people who have less not be effective at reducing economic inequality?
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#27The prevailing view seems to be: robots will take our jobs, therefore we will need UBI, which allows people to live without work. The way I see it, the main problem that UBI is solving is inequality, it's a rich to poor transfer. Excessive inequality is bad because the aggregate utility goes down (rich people don't gain much from an additional dollar, so it's more effectively used by a poor person). Transfering cash…
To your last statement, most proponents of UBI emphasize the "Basic" part of it. As in, it's meant to provide a subsistence level of income that a person could survive on, but not in comfort. I'm personally in favor of that level explicitly not being location-specific so that if you want to live solely on UBI, you have to live in a low cost of living area to do so.
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#28One method of paying for UBI isn't listed - "Printing Money" (Don't say they aren't thinking about it)
Printed money just gets given to banks (for free, effectively), I don't see the issue with just giving it to somebody else instead.
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#29Fact: The plan is about replacing you with robots at work so they can rake in more profits. In return you get to go on welfare rebranded as UBI. Look it up UBI is about automation AI replacing humans for profit. (see geordie rose) So your 40k job becomes 10k to 15k welfare. MegaCorps pocket the rest of your wage as reward for selling you out to UBI and AI.
Doesn't your 40K job become a 30K salary + 10K UBI? I never thought UBI meant communism. If you want more out of life, get a job that pays over-and-above UBI.
No, it becomes 20k-40k salary + 10k UBI depending on your employer.
Re: What Is the Point of Universal Basic Income?
#30The prevailing view seems to be: robots will take our jobs, therefore we will need UBI, which allows people to live without work. The way I see it, the main problem that UBI is solving is inequality, it's a rich to poor transfer. Excessive inequality is bad because the aggregate utility goes down (rich people don't gain much from an additional dollar, so it's more effectively used by a poor person). Transfering cash…
Good points! People would much more prefer to live in a society with more equality.