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RE: Universal basic income wouldn’t make people lazy–it would change the nature of work
"government would issue checks to cover the basic costs of living" is the part that rubs me the wrong way. Where is this money coming from? The only money the government has is money that it took from someone else. Taxes would have to go up several times their current rate in every tax bracket and history has shown that does the opposite of help the economy (US anyway, not sure about other countries)
As I understand it, taking the UK as an example, the cost of current welfare/joblessness programs projected into the future is going to be unbelievably expensive as the population rises and jobs become more scarce due to increased mechanisation/computisation of the workforce. Running a UBI program for everyone will not actually be more expensive. It may even be cheaper, as a lot of negative social issues regards crime, homelessness, drugs etc which will require money from the state to manage, will be lessened.
"The UBI is to be financed by getting rid of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income, housing subsidies, welfare for single women and every other kind of welfare and social-services program, as well as agricultural subsidies and corporate welfare. As of 2014, the annual cost of a UBI would have been about $200 billion cheaper than the current system. By 2020, it would be nearly a trillion dollars cheaper." http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/06/04/of-course-we-can-afford-a-universal-basic-income-do-we-want-one-though/#f05bee8e00a6