Posted on 04/23/2018 6:53:07 PM PDT by tcrlaf
inland has decided to end its experiment with a universal basic income, in which people are paid an unconditional salary by the state instead of benefits.
The idea of a universal basic income has high-profile champions such as Richard Branson, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
But the Finnish government's enthusiasm for a pilot scheme, a European first which garnered worldwide attention, is petering out. Calls for extra funding for it were rejected and the two year trial will not be extended after next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
It took them two years of giving people free money to figure out it was a bad idea?
So, it’s a success then.
The progs won’t learn from other prog’s experiences.
For starters:
“They just didn’t have the right people running it”.
“We’re smarter than the bunch that last tried this”.
“We know what’s in the prole’s interests better than they do”.
Apparently Musk believes in welfare for his rocket program, hypocrite.
The epitome of stupid!
Then we had better figure out what people will do to support themselves as automation advances
But Bernie voters swore about the nordic paradise of socialism and and and ...
I guess they ran out of other people’s money.
Have there been any comments about this epic fail from Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and/or Richard Branson? ;-)
*crickets*
Not peanuts, but CRUMBS.
L8r
Someone in the article’s comment section quoted Fredric Bastiat from his book “The Law”. Worth passing it on...
“Self-preservation and self-development are common aspirations among all people. And if everyone enjoyed the unrestricted use of his faculties and the free disposition of the fruits of his labor, social progress would be ceaseless, uninterrupted, and unfailing.
But there is also another tendency that is common among people. When they can, they wish to live and prosper at the expense of others. This is no rash accusation. Nor does it come from a gloomy and uncharitable spirit. The annals of history bear witness to the truth of it: the incessant wars, mass migrations, religious persecutions, universal slavery, dishonesty in commerce, and monopolies. This fatal desire has its origin in the very nature of man — in that primitive, universal, and insuppressible instinct that impels him to satisfy his desires with the least possible pain.”
“Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor; by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property.
But it is also true that a man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder.
Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain — and since labor is pain in itself — it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it.
When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor.
It is evident, then, that the proper purpose of law is to use the power of its collective force to stop this fatal tendency to plunder instead of to work. All the measures of the law should protect property and punish plunder.”
Gosh, I am just so shocked to hear socialism didn’t work....this time. I wonder what went wrong here after all of socialism’s other glittering successes like the Soviet Union, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, etc.
They must not’ve found the right people in Finland. I’m sure it will work next time.
In truth, we knew the outcome, but the reason for the experiment is even scarier. When a certain percentage of jobs become automated and masses of people are unemployed.. it’s very dangerous.. but nonetheless headed our way. I just hope I am not around when it gets here.
I work in the Business Intelligence / AI field ( have been in this for the past 18 years) and create algorithms for Machine Learning. I can tell you that the idea of 47% of jobs being automated by 2020 is very, very true. And I've been consumed by the idea that this is going to cause massive disruption, chaos and revolution. UBI seemed like an idea. I instinctively thought the same as you did, but thought may be, MAY be it could work under restricted circumstances, with rules.
So I was very happy that Finland did this EXPERIMENT
Now we have practical, verifiable proof that UBI will not work, not just theoretical ideas
Just a reminder that Milton Friedman advocated for universal income because of the proliferation of welfare programs.
That was in the 1960s.
Today there are hundreds of federal, state and local “programs” that give benefits to poor people.
Consolidating all of them into one check is _not_ a crazy idea.
(My preference would be to have _zero_ programs, but if we must feed the bear let us at least have one person feed him instead of an army of bureaucrats handling the task.)
Sign in my local gas station today, EBT machine not working. What are they using it for, chips and soda and wrapped sandwiches?
It was an experiment, tried out on a few welfare cases.
WTH is a "basic job"? A bunch of unmotivated free loaders desultorily picking up trash on meridian of I-91? How many sick days, holidays and vacation time does that entail? What's the retirement plan?
Sounds more like Vermont civil "service".
One of these things is not like the other one;
One of these things is not the same.
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