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It would truly cost liberty. Do you think an entity that gives you free money is going to let you be free? It is going to tell you what you can/cannot spend on
by yanilkr 11y ago
It would truly cost liberty.
Do you think an entity that gives you free money is going to let you be free? It is going to tell you what you can/cannot spend on, where you can and cannot go. The system would enslave you to the state.
It would be so bad it would even be impossible to opt-out.
- EthanHeilman 11y agoWhy not have it not be state controlled at all? For instance setup it up as a series of trusts paid out to each person. Or limit state control by creating it under a constitutional amendment which establishes a fourth branch of government outside of congressional and executive control. These are not unsolvable problems. The US has a large standing professional military which is civilian controlled. Many thinkers in the past would have asked, "Do you think the people that control the military will just allow the president to fire them?" Yet that has happened. Legitimacy and tradition goes pretty far.
- yanilkr 11y agoI am a math minded person I don't see how this adds up. Let me explain myself in a different way. Money, wealth, currency and value are all related but they are not the same. They are tied to each other via currency. Just imagine a class room full of students and we have a way of grading student's work. A better grade means the student is smart. Currency is just that a system of accounting to make students work for better grades. Try distributing grades from performing students to non-performing students and see if it makes the entire class any more smarter than before? Similarly try to just boost grades ie guarantee someone a minimum grade. Now the overall grades look better but students are working the same and they are not any smarter than before.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- throwawaymsft 11y agoExcept make it so a student starves if they don't pass the class. Ask if they are in favor minimum grades then. The goal is to make the consequences of failure less severe.
- yanilkr 11y agoI agree that looking it this way comes as un-caring, in-sensitive and negative but thats what it is.
- EthanHeilman 11y agoThe fear of failure is the handmaiden of mediocrity. I believe there are very positive benefits from reducing the effect of the fear of failure from participants in markets. Give people room to innovate and you'll get increased innovation.
- agorabinary 11y agoAnd self-respect. What Golden-age do UBI proponents imagine in which everyone is massively dependent on a state entity, in which young men and women grow up without an impetus to become self-sustaining adults, in which everyone is an "artist" working on their book, one Facebook alt-tab at a time. It would begin with a basic income. And once it is in place, would voters every pick the candidate that promises to reduce or persist the current rate of free money? It's impossible for UBI to not explode in scope over the course of a few election cycles.
- Frondo 11y agoEveryone works on a book or project of their choosing? Sounds like a golden age for creativity and culture. Sounds like everyone gets to enjoy the self-actualization currently reserved for a few. Sounds really nice overall.