Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
Right, I'm with you, and I think you're probably right that fear of change is going to prevent UBI from being implemented, and that global warming is a good analogy in the sense that both would require massive international cooperation that isn't likely to occur. But if that's all you're saying, and you acknowledge that arts and social services grants won't solve the problems we're talking about, why propose them? Just as a sort of social placebo to comfort us all as we obliviously whistle our way towards the apocalypse?
|
Ok, my understanding of UBI is that because of automation, jobs, income, and inequality are causing many people to be left behind, right? And UBI suggests that one solution to the problem is to give people money, no strings attached, to allow them to at least have a decent standard of living, while society straightens out the situation, correct? And that UBI is only the solution to people's livelihoods, and not a solution to the structure of wealth generation in society, right?
I know there is an issue regarding how UBI gets funded, with some ideas floating around. One such idea I have heard is to somehow create a mechanism for production gets taxed, as a proxy for income tax - a simplified version of the idea being a robot tax. That's all fine and good, but I think the biggest hurdle is the payments and distribution.
And that's the rub, isn't it? It depends on your definition of the problem. One definition is "in this environment, I cannot earn a decent living and can find no meaningful work". Wouldn't arts grants and social work provide that?? Another definition of the problems would be "if people cannot find a job, they will be a burden to society, instead of contributing to it". Wouldn't creating artists and social workers contribute to society? Another definition would be "how do we structure our society when robots are doing all the work". In my limited understanding of history, artists have contributed greatly to the structure of the renaissance, for example, and from that point our entire concept of western society was based.
In my opinion, these types of grants aren't just easier to implement, but also may solve the underlying structural issues that threaten people's lives? Seems more likely than just giving everyone a fancy kind of welfare, that only looks to me like a recipe for inflation.