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At a minimum, we need free universal healthcare that shouldn't be replaced with basic income, because poor sick people often need more expensive healthcare than
by cousin_it 10y ago
At a minimum, we need free universal healthcare that shouldn't be replaced with basic income, because poor sick people often need more expensive healthcare than a reasonable basic income can pay for. Similar for education, the current system of loans just sucks compared to universal free education which was achieved by the frigging USSR.
Also it seems pointless to give basic income to well-off people. On top of free healthcare and education, why don't we just top up everyone's income to the equivalent of the minimum wage? Sure, that will disincentivize jobs that pay close to minimum wage, but such jobs are dying due to automation anyway, and good riddance.
- witty_username 10y ago> Also it seems pointless to give basic income to well-off people. Otherwise taking the basic income might be seen as a symbol of being poor. Also, well-off people might be envious of people receiving basic income. (tl;dr people aren't perfectly rational)
- mason240 10y ago>why don't we just top up everyone's income to the equivalent of the minimum wage? That's what UBI essentially is, giving everyone about the equivalent of a minimum wage income.
- robotresearcher 10y ago> On top of free healthcare and education, why don't we just top up everyone's income to the equivalent of the minimum wage? That strongly incentivizes under-reporting income. One of the strong points of universal income is that it is relatively easy to administer. And well-off people would be taxed more so as to return all or most of their payments. It's not pointless, since it serves as a safety net the instant the large salary goes away, with no application or needs-based investigation that slows the process and costs more money to administer.
- cousin_it 10y agoYes, fair point.