Universal basic income wouldn’t make people lazy–it would change the nature of work
Americans believe in the importance of a good day’s work. And so it’s understandable that the prospect of a universal basic income (UBI), in which the government would issue checks to cover the basic costs of living, rubs some people the wrong way. Writing in The Week in 2014, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry envisions a UBI dystopia in which “millions of people” are “listing away in socially destructive idleness,” with “the consequences of this lost productivity reverberating throughout the society in lower growth and, probably, lower employment.”
This is a reasonable concern. After all, the most successful anti-poverty programs in the US thus far, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, have been carefully designed to promote work–not enable people to avoid it. But based on the evidence we have so far, there’s little reason to believe that a UBI would lead people to abandon work in droves. And even if some people did indeed opt to give up their day jobs, society might wind up reaping untold rewards from their free time in the long run.
read more: http://qz.com/765902/ubi-wouldnt-mean-everyone-quits-working/
"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
Maybe ... a little encouragement would prompt you to go out and seek more. Achieve on a daily basis :)
Hello! I'm a fellow supporter of Universal Basic Income and I approve of all the points made here :)