Should there be Universal basic income?
Recently, I was reading this debate on Universal basic income here. There are arguments given on both sides. For those of you who don't know, Universal basic income is a welfare model in which all citizens receive a basic income that covers their basic living costs, unconditionally.
Now some of you would immediately point out that in this way, people would just become lazy and do nothing. However, I beg to differ. Firstly, you need to understand that this income would be given to everyone. So, if you are getting $1000 as basic income per month, and you are earning $3000 yourself, you would be earning $4000 overall. In other words, there would still be incentive to work. This would also make the welfare and taxation system much simpler. I can also see the following benefits.
Reduced crimes - We know that most crimes are money related. And many such crimes are committed by the financially desperate people. So, giving basic income, would surely reduce crime rate.
People would do what they want to do - Someone may be a passionate musician, but knowing that it would be hard for him/her to earn livelihood through it, would have to learn other skills to sustain a living. When we start giving basic income, people can go full out to master their passion. A famous case is that of J.K Rowling, who wrote the world renowned Harry Potter series of novels, while being out of job, and on welfare.
More people would try to start their own companies - In the current capitalist environment, its hard to start your own company. But with basic income to sustain their livings, entrepreneur minded people could more easily start up the companies they always dreamed of.
So, overall, I am in favor of Universal basic income. With more jobs becoming obsolete due to automation and technology, I think it has become even more important. You can also read counter arguments against it in that thread, but they don't look that convincing to me. I would like to know your opinion on Universal basic income. Are you for or against it, and why?
You got a 1.55% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @hmushtaq!
Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!
I am also in favor of universal basic income.. these grants can not only alleviate poverty in purely economic terms, but may also jolt the poor out of the poverty cycle by helping them.
Very true. Once technology and AI further improves, Universal basic income can become a reality all over the world.
My problem is bnot with giving people money. My problem is where do you get the money to give them? Fiat currency, printed out of thin air and distributed will reduce the value of the money the working people are working for, that is robbing them. Taxing them from what they EARNED is also theft. The model here, at steemit, where it is drawn out of the reward pool is a little better, I am supporting that as I am curious if it can work. I suspect the day will come that it will become a drain on the reward pool and we will see flag wars over people getting the basic income, but maybe I am wrong. Time will tell!
Well, money is a way to distribute scarce resources. If due to technology and AI, we are able to achieve abundance (think asteroid mining, vertical farming etc), then we could achieve a post scarcity economy. So, the main bottleneck is technology and resources, not money itself. The more technology and resources we have, the easier it is to implement Universal basic income.
You could also look at it from the perspective of efficient financing. Where is the current money being spent? What if it was re-directed (toward UBI)? Might not money be saved in the long run?
Although I find the theory of UBI fascinating, I don't think it gets anywhere until the old crop of politicians get ousted. Which, who knows, may be sooner than later.
Yup exactly. You could also see a lot of money being pocketed by bankers who don't produce anything.
It's something that could prove very profitable to both government's and citizens. Basic income is not free money. It's freedom. And freedom belongs to us.
Freedom is our right, indeed :)
I think it's the only ethical way to solve the extreme inequalities in the world and it would make it possible for everyone to actually contribute more to society instead of hunting jobs that are disappearing.
Follow Jon Magnusson on
I think it is needed. Things are changing at such a fast pace and inequality seems to be getting worse.
You may be interested in @steembasicincome which is attempting to address this. I have sponsored someone to test it out and if it works I will be doing a lot more!
Add dsound & Musicoin tracks and get more plays!
Follow @JuxtaMusic for More Of My Music
@hmushtaq Undoubtedly, I support this universal basic income ideal. Actually, it's the right and essential way to create a real Utopialand...
You got a 3.85% upvote from @thebot courtesy of @haseeb96!
I have 10% guaranteed positive return on bids to help minnows.
Delegate me to get 95% profit | 10 SP, 20 SP, 30 SP, 40 SP, 50 SP, 75 SP, 100 SP, 150 SP, 200 SP, 250 SP, 300 SP, 400 SP, 500 SP, 1000 SP or Fill in any SP.