Better than UBI: Human Reason To Work... what the proponents MISS!
This image shows it all.
The entire reason why people believe in UBI (universal basic income)
And why it really fails.
After the fall of the soviet union, many workers were still getting paid, but they had no work. So, many of them ended up drinking themselves to death.
Imagine that, a world were all the limits were taken off, and one could do almost anything, and had still had money coming in and a place to sleep. All of the things the people clamouring for UBI want. But, did it produce more self actualized, life enjoying people? NO. It created a bunch of people who's self image was destroyed.
Currently a person's self worth is based on their job. Their pay is a indicator that they are helping the community; that they are doing something meaningful. You take that away, and what you get is a person who is missing their self worth.
We do not get happy, self improving, community minded people.
Here in The US, one can get by living on couches are in halfway houses. They can learn almost anything from the internet. They are free to start businesses. Freer than many places in the world, and most will never do more than thinking of starting.
Here in america, we have had a self-help book craze! And how many people actually got actualized? Not many.
Jim Rohn has a well known speech, "Walk Away From the 97%".
It is simple to become financially independent, so why do only 3% of the people do it?
97% of the people are not living well below the poverty line.
It isn't 97% of the people who need just a little more money (from the govern-cement) so that they can finally turn their lives around.
No, there is something far deeper that needs to be fixed if we want more people to work on self improvement.
We have people today who can't even walk around a store.
The human body needs at 30 minutes of walking a day. And people will not even do this simple, minimal, almost free exercise.
So, the proponents of UBI believe that just a little more money will solve everything. With just a little more money everyone can get a house and food.
And when asked, where will they money from UBI come from, they often answer with a fancy wording for taxing the rich.
Well, there are no rich. They don't exist. All that money is just on paper. Bill Gates can't just go and sell all of his stock for the current market price. He has to fill out forms telling the market specifically when and what he is going to sell. And usually, this will drive down the market. Further, this transaction is completely different tax and tax structure.
We can't tax the rich. The govern-cement works for the rich, and gives them all kinds of loop-holes and tax laws for them to avoid it.
Back to the money, even if we had piles of money for UBI, it wouldn't do what the proponents of UBI desire.
Entire populations of section 8 housing. Where millions of women have their living expenses paid.
How many of these people are financially fit? Financially literate? Are working on improving their lives?
How many of these women have used their copious free time to write the next great american novel?
Any great artists?
No! Nothing. In fact, if you have to go into one of these houses and prepare it for a new tenant, bring a shovel and a gas mask. MINIMUM. It is truly hell.
So many real world examples of throwing money at the problem not working and the proponents of UBI continue beating the drums.
"Human Reasons To Work" is modelled after an image on a steemit post, that was taken from a site (that steals everything) that i found was actually a cut down version marked from freeworldchart.org
A UBI would certainly spur me on to work harder; to stack silver in anticipation of an imminent collapse.
That which we acquire too cheaply we esteem too lightly.
LOL! Now that you brought that to my attention, that would be just my plan too.
I am definitely resteeming this.
Thank you very much.
My take is that UBI is a curse who work to earn a living and a blessing to those who want to create. just imagine if Tesla, Nietzsche, Charles Dickens, Paulo Coelho had UBI. But they didn't go on protests because they were putting their free time on doing things they love and creating stuff. When you think about it, the ones who deserve UBI the most are ones who work the hardest and vise versa.
This is indeed the case. It is why the original picture (just the left hand side) seems correct. However, it is these self starters that will make it with or without UBI.
If we could really separate this group out, it is less than 10%. And would be easy to fund them. But, i know of know way of doing that with the power of govern-cement that wouldn't destroy everything. (think about think tanks. Then think about think tanks that you can't leave. A plush prison.)
So, i suggested in previous "Better Than UBI" posts that we, the community, build a tiny house/apartment for every man, woman and child. And then open cafeteria / soup kitchens everywhere. Those who need a place to sleep, have it. Those who need a meal, have it. And this would be far cheaper than we spend on section 8 housing.
It's more about the opportunity cost really. 99.99999% of the time these people would manage something. But they could invent and contribute a lot more if they had the basic funding. Human mind and abilities develop and blossom in an accelerating pace. Think how fast computers and the internet developed. One invention paves the way for another.
It's impossible to do as long as strong governments exist.
As long as it has solid community guidelines this is exactly what we need. The problem is that SJWs would easily mess thins up into a political agenda and push the project to involve the worst kind of human beings which would actually drive away the good ones. We can already see this happening in EU.
This is some insightful stuff my man. I definitely agree, without a change from the inside then no external change can be sustained. If we still inhabit a 'poverty consciousness' then that will be our reality regardless.
It is indeed the case!
The one thing I learned through my life(and I am not even that old), monry should be proportional to your intelligence. When the Soviet Union collapsed(I was just a small kid then), a lot of people bought state owned companies, made a lot of money by taking the advantage of thr devalued currency etc. Well, while a lot of people turned out rich from it, only a few kept their enormous wealth.
Same with UBI, if people somehow were to get so much money(let's ignore the fact that it is basically impossible to implement), most of them would probably just becomes drunks. Which might actually be good for some people - conpletely dumbed down population that is reliant on the government.
It has happened, just as you said, before, and it will happen again with the same results.
The govern-cement is just chomping at the bit to implement full spectrum control.
What an odd post. Your image is actually correct. Yes, once basic needs are covered, people have other needs that they seek to meet. What's so weird is that you assume jobs are the only way to meet those needs, and that people given money don't accept jobs?
Unpaid work is meaningful. In fact, it tends to be more meaningful because people are motivated to do it intrinsically instead of extrinsically. Look at Wikipedia. Look at Github. Look at unpaid care work. All of this work is getting done because can afford to do it. Money to live is obviously covered, so they are pursuing higher needs.
Meanwhile, money enables work, especially when it is not withdrawn with work. Welfare punishes work because it is withdrawn as a consequence of it. UBI is not withdrawn, thus work is rewarding. The incentives are different. If you look at the evidence, people use cash transfers to start their own businesses. They use it to accept PT employment to earn more money. All of this grows the economy, especially through the multiplier effect where money is spent immediately at the bottom and middle, but not the top. Economies need currencies as blood. Money needs to circulate, not accumulate.
As for your mentioning of the USSR, it's not that you're wrong, it's that you either don't understand UBI, or communism, or capitalism, to think what you do. Was Milton Friedman a communist? Was Hayek? Is Alaska a communist state? No, of course not to all three. Friedman was one of the fathers of neoliberalism. He was a free market capitalist and he thought UBI was a great idea. As did Hayek. And the closest thing in the world to UBI has existed in Alaska since 1982. And successfully at that.
I suggest doing more research into this topic. Especially look into why both Friedman and Hayek supported it, and other libertarians and capitalists as well.
You can start here.
https://medium.com/p/4a17e8d15b1
I have done a great deal of research. Both in the field and in books.
The thing is, your ideal, what you desire in your posts, will become reality.
However, we will not get their by the methods you propose.
I believe you would like to read books by Charles Hugh Smith
They have a far better way than UBI.
Also, i believe actually providing minimal housing, food and clothing is far better than UBI.
Your ideas only work for people with an IQ over 100. Below that, your suggestions fall apart.
And the last point, the one that trumps all others, is that the current suggestions of UBI is to be run from a central authority. Which will devolve to a control mechanism. No matter how much you insist that it is "universal".
I find it funny that the truth doesn't support UBI. In the current para dime this is to true. It being to true is why most cannot see it for what it is. If you wish to manifest a different para dime then it is going to take a lot of work. Oh yeah that is what is being avoided. Not going to happen on your ass no matter how you slice it or dice it.
Paradigm - how to spell for future use
being too true... - when referring to and/also, the word is too. To is used such as, going to.
But, none the less, i understand.
If we want everyone to have a toaster, free or not, we have to build a toaster for everyone.
Getting people to help in our quest to have a toaster for everyone is the challenge.
Currently we use money.
But maybe, in the future, everyone will have a robot / 3D printer, and so, if they want a toaster, the print it themselves. (but that future is really huge)
Please see my latest post on UBI
If they stay on their butts for to much longer they won't be able to spend the UBI anyways. lol
As in the USSR, they had coupons to buy things... but no things to buy.
People seem to love the Steemitbasicincome. Is that the same in a different scale?
Great post and discussion.
Joy
Some experiments recently made in Europe shows that UBI, instead of making people lazy, made a lot of enterprises and job creation.
In one of the experiments, unemployment went to zero and they had to hire people from outside the zones of the experiment.
But I think it depends on the kind of cultural background have the people that receive UBI.
Of course, there will be different effects in Europe, US, South America Asia or Africa.
You may also want to look at "local script" and the effects it has had on the communities where it was implemented. Such as zero unemployment.
And then look how the nations banned local script.
I was talking about Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBIE).
I don't agree with states involved in UBI'politics
But anyway, the minimum basic income in Portugal saves a lot of families from dying with hunger, besides that I believe in another kind of interventions based in participation models like possible voluntary civic services the beneficiaries could perform as a basis of value/exchange as social contribution.
Participation is the key of any incentive system.
Just for curiosity here is the link UBIE
https://www.ubie.org/
It actually depends on the experiment.
Was it charity or welfare?
Welfare has destroyed entire regions.
Charity has helped many.
Further, the effects of UBI are global. The affects of an experiment are local.
Or, in other words, (I hope you know how money is created)
You, a person, can go to work, get a second job, or side hustle and make more money.
However, bankruptcies are not caused by not working hard enough. It is the person who is running the slowest who gets eaten.
There isn't enough money to pay for all the mortgages.
So, from an individual perspective, you can get more money.
From a large perspective there isn't enough money.
And with all the ways they have said they want to implement UBI, there will be even less money.