Posted on 07/19/2017 8:00:35 AM PDT by Cheerio
The idea of a universal basic income — monthly cash payments from the government to every individual, working or not, with no strings attached — is gaining traction, thanks in part to endorsements from Silicon Valley celebs.
Some see it as a way to compensate for the traditional jobs with benefits that will be wiped out by robotics, artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles, globalization and the gig economy. Others see it as a way to reduce income inequality or to create a more efficient, less stigmatizing safety net than our current mishmash of welfare benefits.
“I think ultimately we will have to have some kind of universal basic income, I don’t think we are going to have a choice,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the World Government Summit in Dubai in February.
In a commencement speech at Harvard University in May, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We should explore ideas like universal basic income to give everyone a cushion to try new things.” And in a July 4 blog post, Zuckerberg praised Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend, the nearest thing to universal income in this or any country. Since 1982, Alaska has been distributing some of its oil revenue as an annual payment, ranging from about $1,000 to $3,000, to every resident including children.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfchronicle.com ...
One problem with it is that it’s never enough.
You’re right, it never will be, because it will be nothing. Inflation, because of the extra money, will raise the price of everything the same amount as the free money.
Universal Basic Income
Otherwise know as the Hunger Games!
Because people are stupid and ignorant.
Universal Basic Income.
Otherwise known as you take what we give you and like it. Know you place and stay in it!
UBI makes more sense than handouts only for the poor and lazy as long it replaces all the other handouts we do (including medicare/social security/medicaid). UBI doesn’t discourage working like welfare, UE bennies, food stamps, etc do. Far down the road when robots and automation are doing 75% of today’s jobs, UBI probably will be needed. The question is how far down the road is that - 20 years, 50 years or 100 years? Can make a case for all 3.
The government keeps raising the retirement age for Social Security, but they want to give everybody a free income with money that doesn’t exist.
You have hit the nail on the head. If I am going to receive the same amount of pay, the same rights, the same medical, the same type of house, the same everything to do nothing that the hard worker gets that supplies these things to me, why would I work? If I am a worker that supplies these things, and I am promised to receive them whether I work or not, why would I work? If I am a politician that makes these promises, that won’t work, and create their own demise, did I work? And when their only excuse for that question is I got paid to do it, did they get just as much as the people they are affecting? Course not, they got millions to do this “thinking.” And since it doesn’t make sense to do any work, who’s going to decide how much and how to get the worth to anybody. Nobody works at the post office now.
Seems the system just shot itself in the foot before it even got off the chalk board, didn’t it?
Genius, that’s anybody, on any topic, more than 200 miles from home.
Well the Fed’s quantitative easing has already created a universal basic income for the top 1%.
If you took all the money from the rich and gave it to the poor, the rich would get it all back in no time.
It’s unlikely that it’d be $20k per person. Probably in the $10k range + like $3k per kid or something. Your second paragraph is only true if they print money to do it. Otherwise you are not creating net inflation (although certain products will go up and others down as resources are re-allocated). Most UBI proponents also propose eliminate all other forms of welfare (of which there are too many to list) and it benefits middle class workers and not just the lazy and poor. It’s definitely not needed today, but far down the road if robots and automation really do replace 75% of today’s job, it very well may be needed.
Anyone who wants to support this can start writing monthly checks to the unemployed (and employed if they choose). They can get together and create a foundation if they want and invite others to donate. They’ll be able to pay more money to more people if the government isn’t taking a share and managing the payments.
I’ll help them create a website where people can donate and sign up for monthly checks for a minimal rate.
But they probably want to use MY money, not THEIR OWN.
The only way to fund it would be to eliminate all the other safety nets - including SS (and realistically Medicare/medicaid also). The general idea is the current safety nets encourage people to not work because the benefits go away if they get a decent job and automation is going to cause havoc on jobs in the near future. With a UBI, working is still all upside and it also helps the middle class, not just the lazy and the poor.
First off - it won’t. The UBI program won’t generate enough income to afford to buy a house and probably not even an apartment in many areas.
Section 8 stands.
Likewise a single mother can’t afford to feed a family of 8 on one income - so food stamps stay.
Most people who are “poor” are healthy enough to be productive but they refuse to be - UBI would go to them not the truly needy.
You’re being sold snake oil.
First off - it won’t. The UBI program won’t generate enough income to afford to buy a house and probably not even an apartment in many areas.
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This tiny house movement is about UBI. Getting people used to not having much so they will be content with “slave quarters” level of living.
Why doesn't Facebook "hire" 10,000 people for no-show positions? Facebook can keep the rights to all the value from these 'new things' in exchange for this basic income. Show us how well this idea works. I'd like to see him get that by his board of directors.
They’re already paid not to work. Welfare is a universal income for the worthless. We already have it. They’re just wanting to expand it to everyone.
It’s too bad a nuclear device didn’t detonate at the “World Government Summit.”
It would have been no loss at all.
Musk received huge amounts of the taxpayer’s money in the form of subsidies from that criminal Obama.
Musk in turn kicked back huge amounts of money to Obama’s campaign.
Both of these dirtbags should be in prison.
I think this stems from the fact the central bankers are desperate to increase the velocity of money and step up inflation. Remember when Bush sent everyone $600? Same thing, only now it’ll be monthly.
GUEST CEO
Need GUEST CEOs to replace loser CEO socialists Musk, Bill Gates, Amazon Bezos, Facebook Zuckerberg, Google.
Silicon Valley CEOs are LOSERs who want Government to steal your money and give it to them. They lobby for a Universal Tax that they steal. Silicon Valley are losers.
Corporate Government is horrible. Anti Trust them all.
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