Live data from Hacker News

European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

eci.ec.europa.eu

141–150 of 156 posts

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> National debt is simply the amount of the national currency in circulation. > Government debt have no interest No it isn't, this is such a stupid dumb lie, why did you fall for this? The big fat liars really got to you. USA paid 500 billion in interest on their government debt last year, "Interest free" my ass. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.ht... And about my harsh language, your side on…

I'm sad you think that about a person you do not know, since it to me is a signal that you are not interested in having an open discussion on the topic Bonds have an interest rate on them, that essentially equate to the government saying "X amount of years from now, we'll be printing this amount of money". It's a roundabout way of simply printing money directly If a bond need to be realised the government switch on t…

> Bonds have an interest rate on them

Exactly, and bonds are included in government debt. Hence this statement is wrong:

> Government debt have no interest

Also this statement is also wrong, since government bonds aren't money in circulation:

> National debt is simply the amount of the national currency in circulation.

Another proof about this statement being wrong: Sweden has currency worth just 1.26% of GDP in circulation, but about 35% of GDP in debt. If what you said was true that would be an impossibility. You are trying to spread falsehoods and even contradict yourself, that is a fact.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_krona

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back when the financial system relied entirely on physical assets like metals, the government needed to have those metals available to produce money Today the overwhelming majority of money is digital and producing more doesn't require the government to have enough metal to mint coins. They simply need to change numbers in a spreadsheet The "borrowing" you're referring to is not a transfer of physical assets. The mon…

I think you are very confused, and I write this in a friendly way.

You're welcome to think that

If you can show definitive proof that there is a limitation on the spending power of a government, that can only be overcome by selling bonds or collecting taxes, I'll happily change my position

I'd like to know what evidence would make you change your position?

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are very confused, and I write this in a friendly way.

You're welcome to think that If you can show definitive proof that there is a limitation on the spending power of a government, that can only be overcome by selling bonds or collecting taxes, I'll happily change my position I'd like to know what evidence would make you change your position?

Government debt means something as long as people can profit from interest of said debt, end of discussion.

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#144
post #136
post #58

I've been a proponent of this idea until now that I am in a position to vote for it. Now I'm not sure if I'm convinced that people are ready for it. I've invested significant effort in working and having a job, and, I wouldn't have have done that if I knew I could have still "gotten by" without, I'd definitely not be where I am today without that outside pressure to _not_fail_. I'd be probably dead or at least morbid…

> I've invested significant effort in working and having a job, and, I wouldn't have have done that if I knew I could have still "gotten by" without I have massive doubt about that statements from a social and behavior perspective. Imagine you were transported to a society where housing, food health care, and entertainment was free, but you belong to the lowest social economic status group that existed. Everyone else…

This never happens (almost) anywhere. We are not living in feudal times.

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sad you think that about a person you do not know, since it to me is a signal that you are not interested in having an open discussion on the topic Bonds have an interest rate on them, that essentially equate to the government saying "X amount of years from now, we'll be printing this amount of money". It's a roundabout way of simply printing money directly If a bond need to be realised the government switch on t…

> Bonds have an interest rate on them Exactly, and bonds are included in government debt. Hence this statement is wrong: > Government debt have no interest Also this statement is also wrong, since government bonds aren't money in circulation: > National debt is simply the amount of the national currency in circulation. Another proof about this statement being wrong: Sweden has currency worth just 1.26% of GDP in circ…

The 1.26% are physical coins and banknotes. As I've stated before, the vast majority of currency is digital

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're welcome to think that If you can show definitive proof that there is a limitation on the spending power of a government, that can only be overcome by selling bonds or collecting taxes, I'll happily change my position I'd like to know what evidence would make you change your position?

Government debt means something as long as people can profit from interest of said debt, end of discussion.

Cool

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#147
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've invested significant effort in working and having a job, and, I wouldn't have have done that if I knew I could have still "gotten by" without I have massive doubt about that statements from a social and behavior perspective. Imagine you were transported to a society where housing, food health care, and entertainment was free, but you belong to the lowest social economic status group that existed. Everyone else…

This never happens (almost) anywhere. We are not living in feudal times.

People who research human health and human behavior are constantly demonstrating the importance of social status.

Take a population and look at those with lowest rate of reproduction, lowest amount of social network, highest risk of loneliness, suicide, and what you get is a correlation to social economical status.

Take a population and measure stress hormones, and the output correlate to social economic status. Take a similar population and look at health outcomes over a large period of time, and the outcome is directly correlated to social economic status. Just a few weeks ago there were a paper showing that the outcome of defibrillation by doctors in hospitals is influenced by the patient social status. The higher the status, the more time the doctors spent in the room and the better the outcome was in shocking the patients heart. Low social status is predictor for slow recovery rate to injuries, and high social status has the opposite effect.

Even in biology we can see the effect clearly. Take a group of female students and their reproductive systems will sync based on social status. There is similar research that links male hormone levels directly with social status changes.

If we compare people in a very rich country with people from a very poor country, the people the share most similarities are those of the same social status, regardless of the actually wealth. It is sometimes refereed to as the paradox of welfare.

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#148

I dislike UBI a lot. (coming from the left side of the European political spectrum for what it's worth) for a few reasons. The first one is that I think work is a fundamental aspect of personal life and people feel deeply rewarded for being compensated for it. UBI is underpinned by a sort of Wall-E philosophy of human nature. It in a weird way presents itself as humanistic but is deeply apolitical and anti-social. Se…

What’s the reasoning behind that? Why is work a fundamental part of life? I don’t feel deeply rewarded.

There’s no such thing as the sanctity of work. This is just ancient propaganda.

I think it’s the complete opposite. Happiness would increase with UBI because it would increase leisure time. Just look at how many people say WFH has made their lives so much better. It’s not because they can spend more hours hunched in front of the computer managing slack notifications.

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The first one is that I think work is a fundamental aspect of personal life and people feel deeply rewarded for being compensated for it. That's a reason to like UBI. (1) It allows more people to work. Current social programs discourage work because earned income reduces benefits; not so with UBI. (2) It allows more meaningful work. People aren't so desperate they need to take any job and we can safely drop minimum…

Makes me wonder what will happen to the parts of the economy that rely on jobs that people aren't lining up to do. I can imagine fast food getting more expensive, for example.

That’s what robots are supposed to do, right?

Re: European Citizen's Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income

#150
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This never happens (almost) anywhere. We are not living in feudal times.

People who research human health and human behavior are constantly demonstrating the importance of social status. Take a population and look at those with lowest rate of reproduction, lowest amount of social network, highest risk of loneliness, suicide, and what you get is a correlation to social economical status. Take a population and measure stress hormones, and the output correlate to social economic status. Take…

And yet the statistics from dating apps say something absolutely different.
Post reply on HN