3 ms·

That would be a conservative's dream government. The reason UBI is supported on both sides of the aisle is because it touches on the priorities of the left and

by nefitty 10y ago

That would be a conservative's dream government. The reason UBI is supported on both sides of the aisle is because it touches on the priorities of the left and right. As far as I can tell, some conservatives advocate for UBI and removing all other social safety nets. I don't think this is exactly what everyone has in mind when they consider the program.

jMyles 10y ago
Yeah it's not hard to imagine it becoming a really dystopian scenario. It's more difficult, but not impossible, to imagine it being great.
- eru 10y ago
  What's dystopian about it?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
sokoloff 10y ago
That's the way to get bi/multi-partisan support. I support UBI iff we dismantle all (or almost all, like > 95%) of existing government give-money-away programs. I can't imagine that I'm remotely unique in this point of view. If you're asking for it to be meaningful in amount, universal, and additive atop the existing programs, I think you'll find very little support from the working people who will bear the costs.
- eru 10y ago
  The best version has welfare and tax systems fuse. Why have two government bureaucracies assess your wealth / income, if one suffices? Right now, lots of poor people face extremely high effective marginal tax rates because they are in a region of income where benefits are phased out gradually. A fused UBI/tax system could be more rational here.
chillacy 10y ago
Yes, this seems to be a divide in UBI supporters. I think some services can be removed with UBI, but not all. In particular, unpredictable expensive things like healthcare bills will still be a problem even with UBI, since not everyone will know how to properly save.
- majewsky 10y ago
  And in some cases, you just can't properly save. If I'm living off UBI in order to do volunteer work in my local community, how am I going to save enough to cover a sudden 100,000 $ cancer treatment bill?
  - eru 10y ago
    Isn't that what insurance is for? (And you can use your UBI to buy insurance.)
    - majewsky 10y ago
      Iff the insurance is affordable on UBI.
      - eru 10y ago
        Sure. But for that calculation, it doesn't matter too much whether the insurance is provided publicly (think Britain's NHS) or by private companies.

by nefitty 10y ago

jMyles 10y ago

Yeah it's not hard to imagine it becoming a really dystopian scenario. It's more difficult, but not impossible, to imagine it being great.

eru 10y ago
What's dystopian about it?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

sokoloff 10y ago

That's the way to get bi/multi-partisan support. I support UBI iff we dismantle all (or almost all, like > 95%) of existing government give-money-away programs. I can't imagine that I'm remotely unique in this point of view. If you're asking for it to be meaningful in amount, universal, and additive atop the existing programs, I think you'll find very little support from the working people who will bear the costs.

eru 10y ago
The best version has welfare and tax systems fuse. Why have two government bureaucracies assess your wealth / income, if one suffices? Right now, lots of poor people face extremely high effective marginal tax rates because they are in a region of income where benefits are phased out gradually. A fused UBI/tax system could be more rational here.

chillacy 10y ago

Yes, this seems to be a divide in UBI supporters. I think some services can be removed with UBI, but not all. In particular, unpredictable expensive things like healthcare bills will still be a problem even with UBI, since not everyone will know how to properly save.

majewsky 10y ago
And in some cases, you just can't properly save. If I'm living off UBI in order to do volunteer work in my local community, how am I going to save enough to cover a sudden 100,000 $ cancer treatment bill?
- eru 10y ago
  Isn't that what insurance is for? (And you can use your UBI to buy insurance.)
  - majewsky 10y ago
    Iff the insurance is affordable on UBI.
    - eru 10y ago
      Sure. But for that calculation, it doesn't matter too much whether the insurance is provided publicly (think Britain's NHS) or by private companies.