Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
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Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#2A common hypothesis for why he was assassinated is that it wasn't his fight against racism that "crossed the line", it was when he started fighting for the economically downtrodden across the board.
Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#3Universal basic income by itself is just a stick propping up the consumer economy. We need a real welfare state, not the pathetic half-attempt we have today. We must take care of each other.
Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#4It costs a lot to administer the welfare bureaucracy and make sure the money goes to those who are entitled to it, and even then many people that aren't entitled to it game the system on a daily basis. I imagine a world where there is minimal administration since everyone gets the same amount, and it's all paid for by just gutting the current welfare system and it's administrative fees. I hope it's tried someday.
Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#5> "Is money a birthright now? Do we just get born and get money from the government?" Republican Rep. John Gillette told Business Insider. "Because I think the Founding Fathers would say that is very contrary to our capitalist system and encouraging people to work."
I think the other perspective is that the US _has_ historically been comfortable with giving away property in the Homestead Act, land rushes, the Oregon Land Donation act etc. These were giving away _capital_, and the people needed to provide the labor to make it productive.
IDK what a future-facing equivalent should look like. Should we all own datacenter racks? Robot factory lines?
Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#6Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#7"before it was cool" people have been talking about this since at least 1848. But for the average American the fear of the C word seems to outweigh any sense of self preservation.
Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#8Can I tell you how our (U.S.) semi-universal basic income saved me?
I have Schizoaffective Disorder Bipolar Type and Partial ADA deficiency.
In 2003 I was unemployed and spiraling in psychosis and the hospitalized. Unbeknownst to my, a friends, who's father was a lawyer, had one of his underlings start signing me up for Disability, which I have been on ever since. Over the years I have studied my disorder, both genetically and psychologically, and I feel this year, as I approach 60, I find myself stable enbough that I might start part time work. I do not need daily medication anymore because of my genetic and nutritional insights.
Now imagine what the $2000 a month I received would do for someone who did not have my disability? Most people (even my family(!) (who I disowned)) thought I did not want to work. Yes, I was making bank before my illness took me over as a Network Engineer, but no one knows the isolation of not working. By the way, $2000/month still leaves me homeless so...
I will never understand the feeling people have that if you help people everyone will take advantage of it. Some will, but most will not. We have such a dim view of people who are poor, like it is always their fault, and never anything outside of their control. I guess that illusion of control is what keeps people mentally secure.
Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#9It costs a lot to administer the welfare bureaucracy and make sure the money goes to those who are entitled to it, and even then many people that aren't entitled to it game the system on a daily basis. I imagine a world where there is minimal administration since everyone gets the same amount, and it's all paid for by just gutting the current welfare system and it's administrative fees. I hope it's tried someday.
I still liked Milton Friedmans proposal for a negative income tax for this reason.
You just piggyback on the existing income reporting mechanism of the IRS - just add a filing for people with no income. And the way the IRS withholds for tax season is just done in reverse.
Yes there would be fraud, but no more than the amount of fraud that already happens on taxes. If anything, it actually incentivizes us to finally fix our tax system.
Re: Martin Luther King was talking about a universal basic income before it was cool
#10A common hypothesis for why he was assassinated is that it wasn't his fight against racism that "crossed the line", it was when he started fighting for the economically downtrodden across the board.
I think the strongest hypothesis is that he combined the anti war movement and black freedom struggles. He was assassinated one year after his historic “beyond Vietnam” speech. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksil...