[Malone LaVeigh]

It's actually a very simple idea: Everyone in society receives a single basic income to provide for a comfortable living whether they choose to work or not.

Sweet! What could possibly go wrong with that?

[trebb]

Those who design and build the robots might not like the idea...

[amnestynone]

Tried many times, it is called socialism. It never worked and never will.

[amihow]

Silly. Just tax the robots.

[tumblindice]

[catnipman]

This whole idea of a “basic income” for everyone is completely insane. Wouldn’t it be better to just give each person in the U.S. a trillion dollar coin? Then everyone would be RICH and not have to exist at just a subsistence level. Furthermore, everyone could buy anything they wanted and no one would ever have to work again.

The coins could be made from a base metal, so they would be cheap to make, and a few extra ones could be minted for the government itself, so taxes could be completely eliminated and yet government could still function. It’s such an elegant solution I don’t know why it hasn’t been implemented yet.

For myself, I’m going to start by buying a pony and the Broncos NFL football team. And I won’t even need pony food stamps to feed my pony because I’ll be so rich.

[roadcat]

Bad idea! Who decides what is a comfortable living? We have seen the problems that came with welfare handouts. Money supposedly meant for basic needs was and is used for $200 sneakers, HD TVs, expensive sports clothing, luxury car accessories, liquor, drugs and etc. And the poor on welfare complain that what they receive is not enough to live on. Their sense of a comfortable living is to take increasingly more funds and spend it on luxury items, and not basic staples of life.

A single basic income will be wasted, and the poor will demand more. Additionally, they will covet what others possess and steal from others. The government may possibly then limit amounts of possessions that people can have, in effect institutionalizing socialism/communism. No good can come from such a moronic idea as universal basic income.

[SamAdams76]

Imagine a world in which people like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Wilbur Wright, etc., never had to work!

Just sit back and collect an easy paycheck!

[GeronL]

idiocy

[tinyowl]

Remarkable.