I'm not sure how many of you watched the videos in the original post, but they do a good job (imho) explaining the need and function of the UBI.
Innovation has led to automation, and automation is being driven by capitalism (make more money with less labor), and is hitting a critical point. Automation has lead to stagnant job creation numbers, while population continues to grow. This is compounding the wage gap, and leading to many societal problems.
The UBI could provide the necessary safety net to keep the capitalist system from full on collapse. Without it, there simply won't be anyone to consume, if no one is working.
With a UBI, there would still be consumers, and as the videos stated, most people don't just want to sit around and do nothing, and would pursue areas of interest, while providing much more productivity. Some may even do the same jobs they loathed, but be working for themselves, or at least by choice, not need.
Sure, people would avoid the less desirable jobs, but that would drive up the wage for them, or provide a job for the new immigrant or teenager, that wouldn't qualify for UBI (yet)-arguably the ones that should fill these positions. Also, if so inclined, a UBI recipient could supplement their income in these positions as well.
As for "dirty" jobs, like cleaning bathrooms or porta-potties, either the same people will fill them, or people will create their own businesses to do these jobs, while working for themselves!
The UBI would allow people to explore opportunities they couldn't, while working to survive. And the same stuff will get done, if no one will do it, likely a robot will be programmed to do it! If there is a niche that is open, someone will try to fill it-that is capitalism.
As for how to pay for it, that will take creativity. Andrew Yang's plan had a good start to work from, that would likely translate fairly well to Canada too:
"
How would we pay for the Freedom Dividend?
It would be easier than you might think. Andrew proposes funding the Freedom Dividend by consolidating some welfare programs and implementing a Value Added Tax of 10 percent. Current welfare and social program beneficiaries would be given a choice between their current benefits or $1,000 cash unconditionally – most would prefer cash with no restriction.
A Value Added Tax (VAT) is a tax on the production of goods or services a business produces. It is a fair tax and it makes it much harder for large corporations, who are experts at hiding profits and income, to avoid paying their fair share. A VAT is nothing new. 160 out of 193 countries in the world already have a Value Added Tax or something similar, including all of Europe which has an average VAT of 20 percent.
The means to pay for the basic income will come from four sources:
1. Current spending: We currently spend between $500 and $600 billion a year on welfare programs, food stamps, disability and the like. This reduces the cost of the Freedom Dividend because people already receiving benefits would have a choice between keeping their current benefits and the $1,000, and would not receive both.
Additionally, we currently spend over 1 trillion dollars on health care, incarceration, homelessness services and the like. We would save $100 – 200+ billion as people would be able to take better care of themselves and avoid the emergency room, jail, and the street and would generally be more functional. The Freedom Dividend would pay for itself by helping people avoid our institutions, which is when our costs shoot up. Some studies have shown that $1 to a poor parent will result in as much as $7 in cost-savings and economic growth.
2. A VAT: Our economy is now incredibly vast at $19 trillion, up $4 trillion in the last 10 years alone. A VAT at half the European level would generate $800 billion in new revenue. A VAT will become more and more important as technology improves because you cannot collect income tax from robots or software.
3. New revenue: Putting money into the hands of American consumers would grow the economy. The Roosevelt Institute projected that the economy will grow by approximately $2.5 trillion and create 4.6 million new jobs. This would generate approximately $800 – 900 billion in new revenue from economic growth.
4. Taxes on top earners and pollution: By removing the Social Security cap, implementing a financial transactions tax, and ending the favorable tax treatment for capital gains/carried interest, we can decrease financial speculation while also funding the Freedom Dividend. We can add to that a carbon fee that will be partially dedicated to funding the Freedom Dividend, making up the remaining balance required to cover the cost of this program."
https://www.yang2020.com/what-is-freedom-dividend-faq/