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But that's exactly the opposite of what universal basic income should be used for (waste on excesses/luxuries before basic needs are met). I grew up in a house

But that's exactly the opposite of what universal basic income should be used for (waste on excesses/luxuries before basic needs are met). I grew up in a household with relatively little income, where you barely have enough for food and housing. I cannot imagine being in that situation and spending much on random next day delivery luxuries from Amazon - you literally would starve. The first thing on my mind would be upgrading from beans and rice to other foods, etc... that sort of thing. Buying into luxuries only really occurs when you exceed the ability to provide for basic needs. Basic income if implemented will be tuned to provide basic needs, not luxuries -- the only time I see this changing is in a distant future post-scarcity economy.

cdubzzz 9y ago
Amazon has an interest in that basic needs market as well. See: Prime Pantry.
mi100hael 9y ago
Sure, there are extreme levels of poverty where you have to scrounge for spare change just to get one meal per day. Most people would argue that's what existing welfare and unemployment programs should be tuned to better solve. UBI goes further than those programs, but how many times have you driven past a trailer park or dilapidated rural home or inner city building with plywood on the windows and see a new Silverado or CTS parked outside? There are a lot of people for whom living on credit is already the norm. Giving them additional cash per month isn't going to fix the fact that the US as a whole is already conditioned to buy everything with debt.
nebabyte 9y ago
> But that's exactly the opposite of what universal basic income should be used for (waste on excesses/luxuries before basic needs are met) BI going towards fundamentals mean people can work jobs to pay for luxuries rather than having to work jobs and save just to cover the fundamentals, was the point.

cdubzzz 9y ago

Amazon has an interest in that basic needs market as well. See: Prime Pantry.

mi100hael 9y ago

Sure, there are extreme levels of poverty where you have to scrounge for spare change just to get one meal per day. Most people would argue that's what existing welfare and unemployment programs should be tuned to better solve. UBI goes further than those programs, but how many times have you driven past a trailer park or dilapidated rural home or inner city building with plywood on the windows and see a new Silverado or CTS parked outside? There are a lot of people for whom living on credit is already the norm. Giving them additional cash per month isn't going to fix the fact that the US as a whole is already conditioned to buy everything with debt.

nebabyte 9y ago

> But that's exactly the opposite of what universal basic income should be used for (waste on excesses/luxuries before basic needs are met) BI going towards fundamentals mean people can work jobs to pay for luxuries rather than having to work jobs and save just to cover the fundamentals, was the point.