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RE: Universal Basic Income = Slavery
I always love a good economics discussion!
- That is an interesting point I hadn't considered. Depending on the implementation, the inflationary pressure on fuel and therefore food could potentially be a huge issue. But, if we're still talking about swapping UBI for welfare then I don't understand where the inflationary pressure would come from because I assume UBI would be cheaper to administer than any multitude of welfare programs.
- Costs will remain and I will admit that my consideration of UBI has almost exclusively taken place in the context of centralized administration. I'm pretty fascinated to see what decentralized UBI will look like.
- I don't 100% disagree but there's a line between striving for fulfillment and striving for livelihood that we have to appreciate. If I don't know where my next meal comes from and I'm able to work hard and acquire it, I will absolutely appreciate it more than the freezer pizza I bought at the store and threw in the oven, but not knowing where my next meal will come from can also affect my mental health and make it harder for me to focus on getting that meal. From that perspective, having to strive to make my life better has reduced my quality of life. I take a bit of a Darwinian perspective on the issue: UBI might initially allow some to be lazy but I can't imagine them reproducing as much as those who maintain a work ethic, so if the lazy die off then in the long-term UBI might actually create a more productive world!
What makes you think this inflationary pressure isn't already partially caused by these issues? Granted the amount of money printed out of thin air dwarfs this amount, but it is not something that can really accurately be accounted for either way.
We seem to be in agreement.
That is kind of my point... I understand some people need help for a variety of reasons. For example I don't think assistance in the case of disability would be a bad thing. However it is that very striving to survive that is what really motivates people to make something better of themselves so they never have to go back to that again. As far as the Darwinian perspective, what would be the result of a complete safety net placed permanently around society? What would then happen if said society had problems and then couldn't fulfill those roles any longer? That could be a VERY bad result training and breeding the ability for survival out of society. As far as people being lazy & reproducing more... I disagree. Just take a hard look at the existing welfare system, you will see children are used as tokens for payouts. It actually incentivises reproduction and unemployment.
After getting UBI payments in Finland, citizens are turning down job offers and staying home lol