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> What a brief Marxian analysis would tell you regarding UBI and any other reform programs: since the control of the means of production and the subsequent cont
by tom_mellior 11y ago
> What a brief Marxian analysis would tell you regarding UBI and any other reform programs: since the control of the means of production and the subsequent control of the surplus labor remains in the hands of the capitalists, the capitalists will maintain their power and quickly destroy any of the proletarian benefits that the program seemed to promise.
I see this objection raised from time to time. But I don't think it's accurate. If there is a UBI I can live off, I'll immediately quit my job at EvilCo doing stuff that I don't believe in or that I find actively harmful. The more evil a corporation is, the more it will have to pay in wages to find someone to do the dirty work. At the same time, the UBI allows people to found startups with much lower risk than today because, if the company does something people believe in, they will be willing to do it for much less money or maybe even for free. (Of course you'll still need startup capital for capital-intensive industries.)
Essentially, the UBI is a subsidy for small business doing socially desired stuff at the expense of big, evil capitalists. I really don't understand why Marxists don't see this and even fear the exact opposite.
- Hytosys 11y agoI would think most Marxists would agree that any society would be have a more prosperous working class with a basic income than it would without one. Because of the framework of class analysis Marx provides however, Marxists do not compromise on moving beyond capitalism. The problems of capitalism run much deeper than just poverty. I don't think that you argued my point, though. Virtually every reform program in the history of capitalism has eroded over time, even the ones that probably sounded as impressive as UBI at the time (near 100% tax rates, social security, etc.).