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RE: Property as Theft: The Libertarian Socialist Critique of Property (Part 4)

in #anarchism7 years ago (edited)

The reality is that you don't know anything about Economics, basically. Universal Basic Income will NOT work. A flood of new money created out of nothing will cause immediate inflation. Everyone's purchasing power will go down instantly and it will take more dollars to buy the same amount of goods prior to distributing these dollars. Inflation is the most unfair tax because it falls most heavily upon those who are thrifty, those on fixed incomes, and those in the middle and lower income brackets.
People who get handouts are taught that it's the government's role to provide for their welfare, health, food, jobs, retirement and housing...Just how Fabians prefer it.

A commission of the German parliament discussed basic income in 2013 and concluded that it is "unrealizable" because:

  1. It would cause a significant decrease in the motivation to work among citizens, with unpredictable consequences for the national economy
  2. It would require a complete restructuring of the taxation, social insurance and pension systems, which will cost a significant amount of money
  3. The current system of social help in Germany is regarded more effective because it's more personalized: the amount of help provided is not fixed and depends on the financial situation of the person; for some socially vulnerable groups the basic income could be insufficient
  4. It would cause a vast increase in immigration
  5. It would cause a rise in the shadow economy
  6. The corresponding rise of taxes would cause more inequality: higher taxes would translate into higher prices of everyday products, harming the finances of poor people
  7. No viable way to finance basic income in Germany was found

Also check Switzerland in 2013...The measure did not pass, with 76.9% voting against basic income

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For your information, I'm quite well read in the area of economic theory. I started out studying Austrian Economics, Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard, then moved on to read Kaynes, MMT, and others.

I don't propose funding basic income via inflation (neither do any other advocates of UBI to my knowledge), which I made clear in all of my posts. I prefer funding it via land-value tax (cf. Georgism). My particular proposal is basically identical to Thomas Paine's proposal put forth in "Agrarian Justice." Also, UBI pilots have proven that it does not discourage work, nor does it make people more subservient. It actually tends to encourage people to further their education and seek better careers and to get involved in politics, strengthening participatory democracy. Everything you've said is a strawman logical fallacy.

Which UBI pilots are you referring to?

PS...I was using "your words" to start my comment. I just changed the word "Socialism" to "Economics"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_pilots

Generally women with children and students are the only ones who choose to work less under UBI. You should check out Scott Santens and Guy Standing for info on UBI in general. You might be interested to know that F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Charles Murray all supported UBI. It's gotten a lot of support from reputable economists.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_pilots

Generally the only people who work less under UBI are students and women who become stay at home moms, i.e people who are really working but without pay.

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