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Why is Basic Income such a popular topic on Hacker News?

koolba 10y ago
It's the social policy equivalent of blockchain circa 2013.
pipio21 10y ago
I believe it is probably because most people here are programmers. If you are a wildly successful programmer you are automating the work of others, and putting them out of job. Most of them though are working for the man and dream of a world in which they are free to do whatever they want, their dream job, without the risk that is involved on it (not being able to support yourself and your family). So what they ask for is a "safety Net" that dilutes the risks onto others. It did not work in the past, with communism, but they believe with the advances in automation, it could work today. Personally I believe in "testing everything" before actually doing it.
nickik 10y ago
Because hackers tend to believe in the idea that automation and advanced AI causes a reduction of jobs and the destruction of middle class. This leads to a lot of rich people who control the AI and robots and a lot of poor who can't find jobs. To counteract this, Basic income is a good idea because it allows for low risk job switching, furthering education and a small bureaucracy but extensive social safety net.
- PunchTornado 10y ago
  Some say UBI has no connection to technology. It is just about eliminating welfare administrative costs and making people contribute to their communities in other ways.
  - lisivka 10y ago
    am pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses.
- formula_ninguna 10y ago
  Exactly. Most hackers are in the middle class. Hence, whether you'll get basic income or not, you'll still move in the low class then, won't you?
CuriousSkeptic 10y ago
It would be very interesting to see a through analysis of that :) Some candidates: - Open Source, and other forms of commons based production We are allready comfortable with separating economic value created, from economic incentives to create. Commons based peer production, as Bekler calls it, is less apparent in other areas of the economy. - Open Minded Systems thinking I guess, as mostly engineers, we have a natural tendency to approach things as a systems engineering problem. Assuming basic income makes sense from that angle, perhaps were more likely to identify it as such. - Front row seats to the future We have a privileged position in seeing where the world I heading wrt technology and its consequences. Thus were probably a few steps ahead in predicting the social issues to be solved in the future.

It's the social policy equivalent of blockchain circa 2013.

I believe it is probably because most people here are programmers. If you are a wildly successful programmer you are automating the work of others, and putting them out of job. Most of them though are working for the man and dream of a world in which they are free to do whatever they want, their dream job, without the risk that is involved on it (not being able to support yourself and your family). So what they ask for is a "safety Net" that dilutes the risks onto others. It did not work in the past, with communism, but they believe with the advances in automation, it could work today. Personally I believe in "testing everything" before actually doing it.

nickik 10y ago

Because hackers tend to believe in the idea that automation and advanced AI causes a reduction of jobs and the destruction of middle class. This leads to a lot of rich people who control the AI and robots and a lot of poor who can't find jobs. To counteract this, Basic income is a good idea because it allows for low risk job switching, furthering education and a small bureaucracy but extensive social safety net.

PunchTornado 10y ago
Some say UBI has no connection to technology. It is just about eliminating welfare administrative costs and making people contribute to their communities in other ways.
- lisivka 10y ago
  am pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses.
formula_ninguna 10y ago
Exactly. Most hackers are in the middle class. Hence, whether you'll get basic income or not, you'll still move in the low class then, won't you?

CuriousSkeptic 10y ago

It would be very interesting to see a through analysis of that :) Some candidates: - Open Source, and other forms of commons based production We are allready comfortable with separating economic value created, from economic incentives to create. Commons based peer production, as Bekler calls it, is less apparent in other areas of the economy. - Open Minded Systems thinking I guess, as mostly engineers, we have a natural tendency to approach things as a systems engineering problem. Assuming basic income makes sense from that angle, perhaps were more likely to identify it as such. - Front row seats to the future We have a privileged position in seeing where the world I heading wrt technology and its consequences. Thus were probably a few steps ahead in predicting the social issues to be solved in the future.