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A few points that I thought would be worth making here. I read through all the comments a little while ago and was surprised no one was pointing these out. Ma

A few points that I thought would be worth making here. I read through all the comments a little while ago and was surprised no one was pointing these out. Maybe they're too obvious, but I think worth the space since many comments seem to contradict these: 1) I think you can't just consider the implications of how people will behave as employees once they're earning a Basic Income. How employers will simply take advantage of the system and force people to work for less. If anything I think it will put more pressure on businesses to make sure they're paying enough, otherwise they won't have the manpower to grow their business. Then there's the argument about automation. There will be only a few companies who can do automation to compete in this new economy. If anything I think it's worth mentioning that not only will it make it easier for large corporations to attempt to take advantage of people, but I think it will make it far easier for regular citizens to become employers. For example, I think people will be far more willing to accept terms that pay only equity in a company than they would be today. 2) With regard to "what will people do with all of their spare time". I think perhaps the dystopian future many people imagine will happen for a few weeks where people celebrate, get drunk and party all day because they don't have to work. Eventually I imagine that life will catch up to most people. They'll have hobbies, they'll start businesses, they'll contribute to non-profit efforts. And one of the most important I think, they'll have the time to engage with their government to ensure it remains loyal to its citizens and not to special interests. NOTE: And to clarify I think these points are made with regard to a "Basic Income" and not a "Minimum Guaranteed Income". Basic Income IMO is the far superior choice. Minimum Guaranteed Income seems to give all the benefit to the large corporations and little to no benefit to the average citizen besides guarantee that they'll remain out of poverty for their entire life.

Shivetya 11y ago
We can hope they find hobbies, instead idle minds tend to destructive habits. Let alone all those idle people are ripe for exploitation by political groups and the like. The hard part with a BI is finding incentive for many to do more than the minimum required to survive. We might be creating that dystopian future simply by defining through law the minimum required to keep people from rising up. In other words, we create a permanent lower class whom we keep just happy enough they don't take out stuff. I think BI is an interesting idea but the dangers are too high unless you find something for people to do. Don't wait for them to find it, most never will try. BI needs to come with some public service at the minimum if not employed

Shivetya 11y ago

We can hope they find hobbies, instead idle minds tend to destructive habits. Let alone all those idle people are ripe for exploitation by political groups and the like. The hard part with a BI is finding incentive for many to do more than the minimum required to survive. We might be creating that dystopian future simply by defining through law the minimum required to keep people from rising up. In other words, we create a permanent lower class whom we keep just happy enough they don't take out stuff. I think BI is an interesting idea but the dangers are too high unless you find something for people to do. Don't wait for them to find it, most never will try. BI needs to come with some public service at the minimum if not employed