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No, I think it's a reasonable comparison. Yes, phasing out benefits creates an incentive not to work. But even many UBI proposals have some phase out, if only

No, I think it's a reasonable comparison. Yes, phasing out benefits creates an incentive not to work. But even many UBI proposals have some phase out, if only because the taxpayer paying money to a millionaire feels fundamentally wrong on so many levels. And the bigger problem is more basic. The idea of UBI is that freed from the need to work, people will form utopian societies full of volunteering and self improvement and art projects etc. But France and realistically most welfare systems show that isn't true. People don't engage in self-improvement en-masse. They sit around watching TV or scrolling through Instagram all day, feeling useless and depressed.

mrfredward 8y ago
Our culture ties self-worth to work. From CEOs to social workers, people get fulfillment and create their sense of self by seeing the impact they have while at their jobs, and we judge others based by the same metrics. UBI can help people pay their bills, but poverty is a lot more than a financial problem. The communities where work is drying up are the communities most heavily affected by opioid addiction at the moment. Drugs are expensive--people don't get addicted because they lack money, they get addicted because they feel hopeless or lack a sense of purpose. Maybe government assistance can help hopelessness, but it sure as hell won't give people a sense of purpose. It going to take a big shift in culture before UBI can really work out.
marcosdumay 8y ago
> But even many UBI proposals have some phase out, if only because the taxpayer paying money to a millionaire feels fundamentally wrong on so many levels. UBI has no phase out, by definition. Something with a phase out can not be called "universal". You can decide it's reasonable or not as you wish (but those millionaires pay more taxes than they receive). Just try to criticize the correct program.

mrfredward 8y ago

Our culture ties self-worth to work. From CEOs to social workers, people get fulfillment and create their sense of self by seeing the impact they have while at their jobs, and we judge others based by the same metrics. UBI can help people pay their bills, but poverty is a lot more than a financial problem. The communities where work is drying up are the communities most heavily affected by opioid addiction at the moment. Drugs are expensive--people don't get addicted because they lack money, they get addicted because they feel hopeless or lack a sense of purpose. Maybe government assistance can help hopelessness, but it sure as hell won't give people a sense of purpose. It going to take a big shift in culture before UBI can really work out.

marcosdumay 8y ago

> But even many UBI proposals have some phase out, if only because the taxpayer paying money to a millionaire feels fundamentally wrong on so many levels. UBI has no phase out, by definition. Something with a phase out can not be called "universal". You can decide it's reasonable or not as you wish (but those millionaires pay more taxes than they receive). Just try to criticize the correct program.