3 ms·

I do support the concept of UBI as the job servitude ideology is a thing of the past in a society past the age of abundance. But I support the Tobin tax as well

I do support the concept of UBI as the job servitude ideology is a thing of the past in a society past the age of abundance. But I support the Tobin tax as well. I find the article a bit lacking and it left me with the feeling of surfing on a trend rather than giving a deeper thoughts about why we should move towards UBI.

wahern 10y ago
But what you and I call job servitude many, perhaps most, other people see as economic and cultural security. That could change in the future, but we're at least a couple generations away. You might say that after UBI people will change. But look at Obamacare. Medical bankruptcies have plummeted. Number of insured are way up. And yet most ordinary voters are absolutely convinced that the nation is worse off than we were in 2008 in terms of health security, despite the objective reality. Even if we got UBI, middle America isn't going to stop pining for the lost industrial base. They may even resent the economic system more than they do now.
- wahern 10y ago
  Thank you for the down votes, presumably because of my Obamacare reference. It only proves my point. It's an objective fact that, judging by the most widely used benchmarks (medical bankruptcies, population coverage, increase in premiums) to judge success, Obamacare is better than the status quo ante. Are there better alternatives? Absolutely, but that's immaterial. And that's my point. No matter how good UBI will be, people won't judge UBI objectively. Like Obamacare, UBI is likely to highlight and exaggerate other inequalities and maladies in our economic system, and raise new ones. And from many people's perspective, perhaps even most people's perspective, UBI will seem like a horrible bargain. People will always judge a system against an imaginary alternative, not against the historic reality. And maybe they'll be right in their assessment. It's probably misguided to believe that there really is such a thing as objective fact in matters of political culture. I can even admit hypocrisy in this regard. When conservative pundits claim that we needn't address income inequality because the majority of households have refrigerators and televisions and are otherwise objectively better off than they were 50 years ago when income was more equal, I would instinctively reject that notion. I understood the validity of their argument in an objective sense, but I also understood that socially and politically people's sense of well-being is relative and contextual. People have an innate need to feel like they're being treated fairly, and "fairness" is a relative characteristic. I apply that sensibility to my opinion of UBI, and I guess I should learn to apply that sensibility to the politics of Obamacare, too.

wahern 10y ago

But what you and I call job servitude many, perhaps most, other people see as economic and cultural security. That could change in the future, but we're at least a couple generations away. You might say that after UBI people will change. But look at Obamacare. Medical bankruptcies have plummeted. Number of insured are way up. And yet most ordinary voters are absolutely convinced that the nation is worse off than we were in 2008 in terms of health security, despite the objective reality. Even if we got UBI, middle America isn't going to stop pining for the lost industrial base. They may even resent the economic system more than they do now.

wahern 10y ago
Thank you for the down votes, presumably because of my Obamacare reference. It only proves my point. It's an objective fact that, judging by the most widely used benchmarks (medical bankruptcies, population coverage, increase in premiums) to judge success, Obamacare is better than the status quo ante. Are there better alternatives? Absolutely, but that's immaterial. And that's my point. No matter how good UBI will be, people won't judge UBI objectively. Like Obamacare, UBI is likely to highlight and exaggerate other inequalities and maladies in our economic system, and raise new ones. And from many people's perspective, perhaps even most people's perspective, UBI will seem like a horrible bargain. People will always judge a system against an imaginary alternative, not against the historic reality. And maybe they'll be right in their assessment. It's probably misguided to believe that there really is such a thing as objective fact in matters of political culture. I can even admit hypocrisy in this regard. When conservative pundits claim that we needn't address income inequality because the majority of households have refrigerators and televisions and are otherwise objectively better off than they were 50 years ago when income was more equal, I would instinctively reject that notion. I understood the validity of their argument in an objective sense, but I also understood that socially and politically people's sense of well-being is relative and contextual. People have an innate need to feel like they're being treated fairly, and "fairness" is a relative characteristic. I apply that sensibility to my opinion of UBI, and I guess I should learn to apply that sensibility to the politics of Obamacare, too.