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Originally Posted by bizaro86
I suspect the only way UBI could ever work would be to combine it with a huge overhaul of the entire system of government. You would need to cut whole departments and have huge layoffs to get savings like that, and each of those programs would have people who benefit from it outraged. Plus, given the cost would exceed total Federal spending, you'd need to make deep cuts PLUS significantly raise taxes. Maybe the GST could go to 20%? You would certainly need to massively increase income taxes as well.
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I think this is a good point that is being missed or glossed over too often in this conversation.
UBI is a measured response to the current and likely future state of western society. The catalyst that many UBI proponents point to is large scale automation of jobs and the resulting mass unemployment. Even more capital will likely move into the hands of even fewer people, primarily those that own large capital to begin with. So, in this scenario you have a few people with A LOT of money and a lot of people with no employment and a market that has little to no demand for employment.
The most common reaction to this is more aggressive progressive taxation. But that aggressive taxation only addresses the uber-wealthy and misses (or treats as an afterthought) how that capital gets to the masses of under and unemployed (in this scenario). Ultimately, UBI seems like a more efficient welfare system and social security net.
However, if the scenario of the future of automation and work is being overblown than this is a moot point and we can likely just use a slightly more aggressive progressive tax to deal with the current state of income inequality.