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I think it is great to study basic income. While many people think it will work, many others are worried people will become unmotiviated and this will have bad
by gpsx 10y ago
I think it is great to study basic income. While many people think it will work, many others are worried people will become unmotiviated and this will have bad consequences. An alternative thing to also study is a workfare program that gives jobs to everyone.
As mentioned in other comments, the HN readers are very motivated people. Most people in general are not. Many people may not work and either become lazy (such that they can no longer work) or worse occupy their time with something counterproductively, such as in gangs. Even without basic income I know people who didn't work for a while and eventually they became helpless with regard to work.
Using computers we can provide work for all people. This can be something like accounting, project management, or something as basic as rating movies and video games. There is always more work to be done, it just might not be economically viable. Where needed, these non-economically viable jobs can be subsidized as a form of welfare.
- thro1237 10y agoThis was tried in India. It is called MNREGA. From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rural_Employment_Guarantee_Act,_2005 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rural_Employment_Guar... National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (or, NREGA No 42) was later renamed as the "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act" (or, MGNREGA), is an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the 'right to work'. It aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.[1][2] Starting from 200 districts on 2 February 2006, the NREGA covered all the districts of India from 1 April 2008.[3] The statute is hailed by the government as "the largest and most ambitious social security and public works programme in the world".[4] In its World Development Report 2014, the World Bank termed it a "stellar example of rural development".[5]
- gpsx 10y agoThat looks like it fared pretty well, though not perfectly. I think it could have non-manual labor opportunities can be added via computer.