Good news! Support for a universal basic income is on the rise.
Basic income is a concept that is starting to gain popularity across the globe. Universal basic income or UBI is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country receive a regular, unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, independent of any other income. The debate around UBI has sharpened dramatically in the recent years as automated machines take more and more human jobs, and according to recent polls, support is growing for UBI in a number of places.
Here in the USA there are some big names in business and tech currently supporting the Idea in the USA: Pierre Omidyar, Andrew Ng, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Bill Gross, Ray Kurzweil, Albert Wenger, Tim O'Reilly, Chris Hughes, and Mark Zuckerburg.
On June 15, Hawaii state representative Chris Lee wrote a Reddit post about House Concurrent Resolution 89, a bill he says he introduced in order to "start a conversation about our future." According to Lee, "After much work and with the help of a few key colleagues, it passed both houses of the State Legislature unanimously." This makes Hawaii the first state in the US to start down the path of adopting basic income.
A 2012 affordability study done in the Republic of Ireland by Social Justice Ireland found that basic income would be affordable with a 45 percent income tax rate. This would lead to an improvement in income for the majority of the population. Charles M.A. Clark estimates that the United States could support a Basic Income large enough to eliminate poverty and continue to fund all current government spending (except that which would be made redundant by the Basic Income) with a flat income tax of just under 39 percent.
It may be awhile before the average US citizen starts seeing a monthly check in the mail from the Government but the research and current polls suggest that the topic of a universal basic income is becoming much more widely accepted. As a cultural sciences researcher, I understand the positive impact that basic income can have on the stability and quality of our culture and I fully support a universal basic income.
You know there is another word for "Universal basic income"? It's called communism and it's killed over 100 million people in the past 100 years.
UBI can be used as a way to turbo-charge capitalism. A fiat currency can be backed with CULTURE which is produced in greater amounts when money is invested into supplying basic essentials. If you dont understand the concepts and nuanced thinking behind UBI then "communism' becomes an easy argument, Its a boost to capitalism and it is not communism.
Not even close my friend. Wealth redistribution via coercive government force is NOT capitalism. What you are talking about is a theoretical boost to INDUSTRY not capitalism. Industry does not equate to capitalism. However your theoretical boost to industry is also based on fallacy. History has proven that taxing industry in order to provide "social services," has a negative outcome on economies.
Rebranding socialism/communism as "Universal Basic Income" does not make it capitalism. It's still socialism. It still requires government coercion. It's still going to result in a reduction in overall wealth. It has never worked on a large scale. It never will.
Great article as always!
Thanks bro!
If this is such a good idea why aren't the supporters of the program forming and operating voluntary associations to achieve this goal? Nothing stops them from doing it and they would get all the wonderful benefits without the nasty, unethical, immoral side effect of using government force to make people who disagree go along with them.
Some people are doing such things. Look at Grantcoin, and @scottsantens Patreon group. But if it is to be "universal", then that's going to require governments to do it.
Why must it be universal?
Because how could they control you if it wasn't? That's why.
Bingo!! Ding ding ding... we have a winner.
Thanks for posting about basic income! Upvoted and resteemed.
On a side note, you may be interested to know that I'm the one who created the "UBI is not left or right" image you used. I always get a kick out of seeing it used somewhere. ;)
Thanks for the graphic Scott best graphic available in the bunch!
UBC doesn't work because the basic costs of living will always adjust themselves to all of the UBC. (and usually a bit more)
Basically, you start subsidizing rent (that's what UBC is for, to pay rent) and rent prices go up.
I would suggest that we, the people, start providing minimal housing, minimal clothing and minimal food.
If you need shelter, you show up to a place of tiny apartments and they give you a key. If you are hungry you show up to the cafeteria and get a meal.
With this there is no extra expense. No keeping track of people. No huge administration. The people that need/want it use it.
And it is the cheapest of solutions. Tiny apartments built on public land is extremely cheap. There is no tax dollars paying forever for someone who is renting to the govern-cement.
this UBI is the mother of all deceptions... wealth cannot be created nor destroyed it only changes hands... so for any UBI to be satisfactory it has to come from the top 10% ... otherwise UBI will just add another layer of social deterioration/destruction
How far does society have to go before grasping that the monetization of knowledge, time and value does not work? https://steemit.com/basicincome/@earthcustodians/reality-is-realistic-why-is-universal-basic-income-rationally-unworkable
also UBI does NOt deal with reality
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